Smile! Red-light cameras coming to Warrenville

Add Warrenville to the list of suburban communities who will be putting up cameras at high-volume intersections to catch motorists running red lights.

The Warrenville City Council passed an ordinance Monday to install the cameras along the eastbound and southbound lanes at two intersections: Butterfield Road at Route 59 and Butterfield Road and Winfield Road.

The city plans to contract with Lombard-based RedSpeed Illinois to install the cameras, which officials said they expect to have operational by Sept. 1.

Police Chief Raymond Turano and city officials have echoed the arguments of several neighboring communities that the camera systems aren't being considered as a money-making venture.

Catching motorists using the cameras, though, can be profitable for towns considering them.

Naperville officials estimated in March that photo enforcement cameras at two intersections could add about $2.4 million to the city's coffers. That's based on predictions of issuing 1,000 tickets a month at each intersection.

Roughly 30 cameras in Chicago netted $20 million for the city in 2006.

And a single camera in Bellwood resulted in 500 tickets in one month, which resulted in $50,000 worth of ticket fines.

The Warrenville city council on Monday also passed a fine structure for the photo enforcement cameras. Traffic scofflaws caught running a red light on camera will face a $100 ticket.

And should Warrenville officials decide to install more cameras at other intersections, the city will split the cost of upgrading the traffic signals at the intersections with RedSpeed Illinois. The city's portion of that cost would come from revenue generated through the camera enforcement program.

Aurora, Carol Stream, Lisle, Roselle and Wood Dale are among the other DuPage County communities with similar plans for red-light enforcement camera systems in the works.