Red light cameras coming to Carpentersville

Motorists who frequently traverse Randall and Huntley roads or Routes 25 and 68 in Carpentersville have a few months to purge bad driving habits before the village's proposed red light cameras are installed.

Trustees this week approved the traffic control devices by a 4-3 vote. The village must now receive approval from the Kane County Department of Transportation, which controls the Randall Road and Huntley Road intersection. Additionally, the village must get the green light from the Illinois Department of Transportation for the intersection of Route 68 and Route 25.

Kane County officials denied Elgin's request to install red light cameras at three Randall Road intersections: Big Timber Road, Bowes Road and Route 72. Officials said the intersections were not dangerous enough to warrant red light devices.

Supporters of the cameras say the equipment improves public safety. But some Carpentersville trustees who voted against the measure say the cameras are now less about public safety and more a matter of revenue.

"I think we have too many people who are making up driving rules as they go along," said Village President Ed Ritter, the fourth vote in favor of the cameras. "I don't know if they don't have the proper training, if they don't know the rules, or if they just don't care about the safety of others. This is another tool to ensure the safety of all drivers."

But Paul Humpfer, who voted against the devices along with trustees Patricia Schultz and Brad McFeggan, said there are other ways to make intersections safer.

"I don't think we have exhausted all means to make Randall and Huntley safer," Humpfer said. "I think making it a left turn on the green light only like they did at Randall and Route 72, would make a difference. But I generally do not support ticketing people without an officer present. I think it has gotten away from safety and is more about revenue."

In the past four years, police said, there were 506 accidents recorded at Randall and Huntley roads - 101 of those in 2009. For Route 25 and Route 68, there were 22 accidents in 2009, and 105 in the past four years.

Ed Dennis, special projects coordinator for the police department, said there are no initial set up fees for the program. An agreement between Arizona-based Redflex identifies a fixed fee of $4,395 per month for each approach.

"The monthly cost of the equipment is paid out from the revenues from violations," Dennis said. "If there are no violations, there are no costs to the village."

Each red light violation is $100 and the fine doubles after 14 days.

While village officials were reluctant to say how much revenue the cameras could generate for the village, police officials said any additional revenue would fund traffic safety programs only.

"Our objective is safety," Dennis said. "If these things realize no revenue for the village and accident rate goes down, that's OK with me."