E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint story
Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, March 19, 2010
Traffic Cameras Ordered Down
By Kiera Hay And Jeff Proctor
Journal Staff Writers
The death knell may be chiming for Santa Fe's red-light camera program.
The State Transportation Commission unanimously approved a policy on Thursday banning photo enforcement on state-controlled roads. The decision essentially kills Santa Fe's plans to install cameras at a handful of its busiest intersections to catch motorists running red lights.
The commission's action also puts major limits on where city government can use its new speed enforcement van, which also uses photo technology.
"I think red-light cameras have always been pretty unpopular with the governor and the Legislature," said Santa Fe Mayor David Coss. "I'm not too surprised with the decision. We'll have to look at our program."
Photo traffic light enforcement in Santa Fe has long been planned for four intersections along Cerrillos Road: at St. Francis Drive, St. Michael's Drive, Richards Avenue and Zafarano Street.
But the state has jurisdiction over Cerrillos, which is also a state highway, N.M. 14; St. Francis, which is also U.S. 84/285; and St. Michael's, which is N.M. 466.
City officials said on Thursday that they'll go back to the drawing board and consider other locations for the cameras intended to catch red-light scofflaws.
But the fact remains that few, if any, streets in Santa Fe are as traveled as the state thoroughfares. The intersections planned to get cameras were chosen precisely because of their heavy traffic and high crash rates.
Santa Fe City Councilor Ron Trujillo, a driving force behind the camera program, said he was disappointed with the Transportation Commission's decision. "This is a safety issue," he said.
But there were few fighting words from Trujillo or anyone else at the city. Coss said he doubted there would be any sort of challenge to the ruling.
"My initial response is no, it's probably not a good idea for the city to tell the state what it can't and can do on its own roads," Coss said.
City Manager Robert Romero said in a statement that Santa Fe "respects the authority of the New Mexico Department of Transportation and will examine options for implementing this public safety program."
Transportation Department spokesman Mark Slimp said the commission has been discussing the camera issue for a few months.
"We were aware of various cities wanting to install cameras, and some wanted to do so on our right of ways," Slimp said. "The commission decided that, in the absence of clear proof of enhanced safety, to put a ban in place. We're not trying to take any rights away from cities, as long as the cameras are not on state or federal roadways."
The Santa Fe City Council approved its red-light camera program in September 2008 and signed a contract with Arizona-based Redflex Traffic System, the program's operator, several months later. Officials had originally hoped to have the cameras up and running by last summer but have been kept waiting by the state, ostensibly for a construction permit.
Slimp told the Journal in January that "nothing specific" was holding up the situation and that "it has just taken awhile to work out the details."
The new state ban also applies to camera-equipped vans staking out freeways or state roads to enforce speed limits. A mobile speed van has already been roaming Santa Fe since late October, and officials said they have no intention of changing that.
"We have the speed van, which is really great and active. Ask anybody in Santa Fe, I already have really good feedback," Trujillo said. But the van can no longer be used on the state-controlled roads.
Santa Fe's contract with Redflex allows it to cancel its agreement if a state statute or municipal ordinance makes operating red-light camera systems difficult or illegal.
City attorney Geno Zamora did not return a message left by the Journal seeking to clarify whether Santa Fe will be completely off the hook financially with Redflex for costs associated with the red-light camera effort.
Other New Mexico cities affected by the ruling are Albuquerque and Las Cruces, both of which have red-light cameras on state and federal roads. Española and Rio Rancho are considering camera programs.
Red-light cameras will need to be removed from state roads within 60 days, according to the Department of Transportation.
In Albuquerque, the ban will affect five of the city's 20 camera intersections: Paseo del Norte and Jefferson, Paseo and Coors, Coors and Ellison, Coors and Montaño and Coors and Sequoia.
Albuquerque officials have contracted with the University of New Mexico to study whether the cameras have been effective in making the city's streets safer overall.
At the time the study was announced, Albuquerque Public Safety Director Darren White said the study — whose sole aim is to determine whether Albuquerque's streets have become safer overall as a result of the program — will play a significant factor in determining whether the cameras stay.
Officials expect the study to be finished by the end of summer.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
