Politics & Government

Redmond Police Release Latest Red-Light Camera Data

The number of citations dipped slightly from April to June at the city's camera-enforced intersections and school zone.

Camera-enforced citations in Redmond dipped slightly from April to June, police officials announced at a city council public safety committee meeting Tuesday while also acknowledging the decline is not as steep as they would like to see.

The city's camera enforcement pilot program has been in place since February. It includes red-light cameras eastbound on Redmond Way at 148th Avenue Northeast, eastbound and westbound on Northeast 40th Street at 156th Avenue Northeast, and westbound on Union Hill Road and northbound on Avondale Road where those two roads intersect. A speed zone camera is also located at , 18025 NE 116th St.

From April to June, the total number of violations at three of those areas declined from 1,317 to 1,275. (See the table below for a complete breakdown.) A technical malfunction with some underground sensors at Redmond Way and 148th Avenue Northeast caused the cameras to fail to capture a number of violators and led to a steep drop in citations at that intersection; the problem has since been fixed.

Find out what's happening in Redmondwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The speed camera at Einstein Elementary was also turned off after the last day of school on June 22.

"Our numbers are going down," said Police Commander Shari Shovlin while also acknowledging the decline isn't as steep as officials would eventually like to see. "We want to see a (significant) decrease, and it's not necessarily going to happen in just a couple of months."

Find out what's happening in Redmondwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Meanwhile, the number of collisions at the three intersections with red-light cameras has increased from 11 in the first six months of 2010 to 14 during that same time period this year. Two of those collisions were rear-end crashes involving people who said they were trying to stop in time for a changing light, Shovlin said.

Despite that increase, and although the majority of citations still occur when the driver is attempting to make a right turn on red, city councilmember John Stilin said he believes the cameras are a good way to prevent serious injuries to cyclists and pedestrians.

"The day somebody goes through a right turn and doesn't see a pedestrian...that's the one that's got the biggest potential to do the biggest harm," Stilin said. "That's the activity that I think we really need to nip in the bud."

City officials also released Tuesday financial data on the money the camera citations have generated so far. From March 16 to July 14, the fines have amounted to a total of $567,859. Of that amount, the city has paid $47,000 to its camera vendor and $454,282 to King County as a retainer for court costs.

What remains of that retainer balance will be returned to the city at the end of the year, according to city finance director Michael Bailey.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, Police Chief Ron Gibson proposed a timeline for the city council to discuss whether to extend the camera enforcement program beyond the initial pilot year. City council will hold a study session on the matter on Oct. 11 and could vote on the program as early as Nov. 1.

Meanwhile, Redmond resident Scott Harlan to gather enough signatures to put the issue of camera enforcement on the ballot. Harlan said Wednesday the campaign is continuing to make progress but declined to release specific numbers.

“it is going very well," he said. "We’re not there yet, but we’re working very hard to get there.”

Harlan said the petition organizers have until Sept. 24 to get 3,845 signatures and put the issue to voters. But he said Redmond city council members would also need to decide by Aug. 16 whether to add the initiative to the November ballot, which makes the next few weeks especially crucial.

If the required signatures come in sometime between Aug. 16 and Sept. 24, Harlan said the matter would likely be decided in a special election sometime in early 2012.

“It’s gonna be a real push,” he said. “It’s not in our interest and it’s certainly not in the city’s interest to delay a vote past November.”

Camera-enforced warnings and citations

Avondale Rd / Union Hill Rd Union Hill Rd NE 40th St / 156th Ave NE Redmond Way / 148th Ave NE NE 116th St at Einstein Elementary February (warning period) 927 528 1,187 158 March 701 570 871 110 April 666 555 941 96 May 644 499 183* 107 June 688 508 20* 79**

*The camera at Redmond Way and 148th Ave NE experienced an equipment malfunction in May and June that contributed to a decrease in citations.
**The camera at Einstein Elementary was turned off after June 22, when the school year ended.

Source: Redmond Police Department

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mr. Harlan's efforts were targeted toward putting a referendum on the ballot. The matter would in fact be an initiative, not a referendum. Redmond Patch regrets the error.


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