I-380 speed cameras will resume operation in Cedar Rapids after state approves appeal

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two speed enforcement cameras in Cedar Rapids that were nixed last year — along with most traffic enforcement cameras around the state — by the Iowa Department of Transportation will soon start issuing citations again after an appeal to the DOT by the Cedar Rapids Police Department was approved more than a year after it was submitted.

Under a new state law passed in 2024, cities in Iowa had to request approval from the DOT before using automated traffic enforcement, or ATE, cameras to issue tickets for speeding.

The City of Cedar Rapids submitted approval requests for the 13 ATE cameras that were in operation before the law was passed, and when the decisions were announced in September 2024, only four of Cedar Rapids’ cameras were approved. Among those were two cameras that capture the speeds of vehicles entering the Interstate 380 S-curve that passes through the city.

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The DOT denied any cameras that it deemed were not “appropriate and necessary and the least restrictive means to address the traffic safety issues at a location,” per the stipulations laid out in the new law.

Two Cedar Rapids cameras capturing the speeds of vehicles leaving the S-curve in both directions were among the denied cameras. The city submitted an appeal in October 2024 asking the DOT to reconsider those two cameras.

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“All four systems have proved to be the most effective at controlling speed for the two miles vehicles are in the S-curve when used in conjunction with each other,” the appeal stated. “The paired locations of I-380 Northbound and Southbound ensure that drivers enter the S-curve at a safe speed and maintain that speed throughout the curved and elevated structure where traditional enforcement of traffic laws is not safe for either officers or the public.”

The appeal included data gathered from the rejected cameras — which were no longer being used to issue citations but were still operating to gather data — that showed the number of cars traveling more than 10 mph over the 55 mph speed limit when they left the S-curve increased from 2,755 in a week, to 3,438 in the week after the two rejected cameras stopped issuing citations.

According to a communications document sent by Cedar Rapids city staff to City Council members on Oct. 31, and published on the city website Monday, the decision to reverse the previous denial of the cameras was made the last week of October, and the city received an updated cameras permit on Oct. 31.

As of the Oct. 31 communication, a timeline for when the cameras will again be active has not yet been finalized, but there will be a warning and public notice period before full enforcement resumes.

“This decision reinforces what our data and experience have consistently shown — that ATEs play an important role in reducing dangerous speeds, preventing severe crashes, and protecting both motorists and first responders on one of the busiest stretches of roadway in the region,” the city communications document states.

The Marion Police Department also submitted an ATE camera appeal last year for two fixed locations that were rejected — Highway 13 at Highway 151 and Highway 100 at E Post Road — and at two rejected potential locations for the department’s mobile ATE camera — the 1200 block of Sixth Avenue and the 3500 block of Highway 100. All four rejections were affirmed by the Iowa DOT, according to information shared with the city council by a Marion police lieutenant during an Oct. 21 work session.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com