Elgin red-light traffic program dealt a setback

Elgin's plans to install red-light cameras at three city intersections are back to square one.

City officials have learned their three proposed locations won't work for various reasons.

"We've spent a lot of time on this. It's been well over a year," said Mayor Ed Schock. "We're in effect starting over again."

The city signed a contract last fall with Phoenix, Ariz.-based RedFlex to install, maintain and operate the cameras.

Elgin Deputy Police Chief Robert Beeter said the city has intersection improvements planned for Dundee Avenue and Summit Street, so it would be shortsighted to install cameras there that would be removed with construction.

Also, train-arm signals would have interfered with the red-light cameras at eastbound and westbound Big Timber Road and McLean Boulevard and westbound Kimball Road at State Street (Route 31), he said.

Beeter said officials hope to have a set of four new intersections from RedFlex officials within a few weeks.

"It's unfortunate, but we're going to have to search for different intersections," he said. "We want to at least get a foot in the door with a city-owned approach."

One area RedFlex is looking at is Randall Road, Beeter said.

In early 2008, the city came up with a list of 13 intersections that could be eligible for cameras if they met the threshold of an average of 15 tickets per day.

At $100 a ticket and if they meet their quota of 15 tickets a day, the cameras could rake in $495,000 per intersection per year after the city pays operating costs to RedFlex.

Schock and other city officials have stressed that the cameras are to prevent accidents and encourage motorists to slow down.

For more on what the six candidates for the 2-year Elgin City Council seat have to say about red-light cameras, visit dailyherald.com