Date: June 21, 2007
Contact: Pat Dodds, Public Affairs Officer, (480) 312-2336
Photo enforcement changes slated for July
DPS to oversee freeway cameras; city adding cameras on streets
Two transitions are coming to the Scottsdale photo enforcement program beginning in July.
- The Arizona Department of Public Safety will take over administration of Loop 101 photo enforcement cameras.
- A new vendor will take over the city’s street-level program, adding three new locations.
Overall, drivers will see few – if any – interruptions in photo enforcement coverage.
The shift to DPS administration of the freeway program comes after the City Council’s approval Tuesday of an agreement with the agency. The city will contract with its vendor to provide a photo enforcement system on the freeway, but DPS will be responsible for oversight of the system and will issue citations.
“The Arizona Department of Public Safety is committed to ensuring that Arizona highways are a safe environment for our citizens and visitors alike,” said DPS Director Roger Vanderpool. “Our officers are committed to reducing incidents of dangerous driving, to include excessive speed.
“It is a proven fact that excessive speed contributes to the seriousness of traffic collisions and increases injuries and fatalities in such crashes,” Vanderpool said. “Photo enforcement is another tool to assist our agency in the on-going, day-to-day effort of highway safety."
Last month, the council also approved a contract with a new vendor – American Traffic Solutions – to operate the photo enforcement system in Scottsdale. Redflex Traffic Systems is the current operator of Scottsdale’s cameras.
Two transitions will occur simultaneously during July, and work has already begun to prepare for the changes.
Freeway program transition to DPS
First, under the agreement approved by the Council on Tuesday, Redflex will begin a phased removal of its six camera sites along the Loop 101 freeway between Scottsdale Road and the 90th Street/Pima Road exit. ATS will install replacement cameras in the same locations. The transition process is expected to be completed by July 31.
Speeders flashed by the new ATS cameras will receive tickets from DPS, rather than the City of Scottsdale. Freeway citations will continue to be processed through Scottsdale City Court.
The agreement between the city and DPS runs up to eight months. That period will provide time for the state to develop its own program to contract directly for photo enforcement services.
Scottsdale street locations – what’s new, what stays, what goes
Another transition program affects Scottsdale streets. Redflex also will begin a phased removal of its equipment at six street-level sites within Scottsdale as ATS phases in its new equipment. ATS also will install cameras at three new locations, set to begin monitoring drivers on July 1.
The new Scottsdale street locations are:
- Northbound and southbound Pima Road south of Hualapai Drive. These cameras, at a mid-block location between intersections, will monitor for speed only.
- Eastbound and westbound Shea Boulevard between 120th and 124th streets, also a mid-block, speed-only camera.
- Eastbound McDowell Road at Scottsdale Road. This intersection camera will monitor both speeds and red-light running.
The six fixed camera locations that will continue are all intersection cameras that monitor speed and red-light running. They are:
- Northbound Scottsdale Road at Thomas Road
- Northbound Scottsdale Road at Cactus Road
- Southbound Hayden Road at Indian School Road
- Northbound Scottsdale Road at Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard
- Southbound Scottsdale road at Shea Boulevard
- Eastbound Shea Boulevard at 90th Street
Redflex will continue to run these systems for varying periods ranging from 6 to 27 days after July 1. This staging period will give Redflex sufficient time to remove its equipment and ATS time to install its equipment.
The program changes also call for deactivation of cameras at two intersections – southbound at Pima Road and Pinnacle Peak Road and northbound Hayden Road at McCormick Parkway – and at one mid-block location at Frank Lloyd Boulevard at 77th Street.
Four mobile camera vans will continue to operate in Scottsdale, the same number under the Redflex program.
Normally, photo enforcement cameras are set to photograph drivers when they travel 11 mph or more over the speed limit. In school zones, the cameras photograph drivers exceeding the limit by 6 mph.
For information on how to pay a photo enforcement citation, visit: http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/courts/civil/radar.asp
For photo enforcement mobile van locations, visit: http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/photoradar/pdf/photovanlocations.pdf
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