Iowa DOT rules to tweak traffic camera use

CEDAR RAPIDS - Iowa's Department of Transportation is expected to require changes to automated traffic camera programs, but not eliminate them entirely, when it releases a long-awaited report next week, DOT director Paul Trombino said Wednesday.

The question for months has been whether the DOT would put an end to the use of the cameras in the state or side with cities in saying it's a smart use of technology to make roads safer. There's vocal support and opposition on both sides.

'We are going to make some changes,” said Trombino, who was in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday for business luncheon. He said the DOT's role is not to take sides in the debate but to establish statewide rules.

Trombino declined to go into specifics, but said the report will not be a sweeping ban of camera programs.

'Probably both groups are going to be unhappy with parts of the report,” he said.

The agency has been reviewing crash and citation data submitted last May by the six cities - Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Muscatine, Davenport and Sioux City - that use cameras to ticket violators of traffic laws, such as speeding or red lights, on Iowa's primary highway system. Initially, the review was expected to take weeks, but data was inconsistent and required more work than anticipated, Trombino said.

He said the review shows not enough analysis occurred when programs began in selecting locations to place cameras. The focus appeared to be more on raising revenue than improving safety, he said.

Cedar Rapids has been at the center of the debate after the DOT ruled some of the most prolific cameras in its system - at Diagonal Drive northbound and J Avenue southbound on Interstate 380, along with a red light camera at 10th Avenue and First Street - violate state rules enacted in February.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett disagrees with Trombino's assessment, saying the focus has always been on public safety.

'We are not anticipating anything,” Corbett said of the report. 'We think we are on solid footing with our safety data. We've acknowledged some of our intersection data is not as strong as others, and we'd be willing to take them down or move some to a different intersection.”

Corbett said the city has been flexible, but the mayor is adamant the I-380 cameras, which account for about three-quarters of the violations, have made Cedar Rapids' S-curve safer. Cedar Rapids has resisted taking down the non-compliant cameras, and Corbett said it's a local control issue.

Cedar Rapids has allies, too. Sioux City has sued the DOT over the administrative rules enacted in February, saying they are vague and hard to follow.

'I don't think this is something where we have to go alone,” Corbett said. 'All cities are feeling the same way that this is a local control issue and big brother comes in and interferes.”