Corbett wants Cedar Rapids to comply with DOT camera order

CEDAR RAPIDS — Mayor Ron Corbett said Monday he will ask his City Council colleagues to give in to the Iowa Department of Transportation and comply with its order for the city to turn off enforcement cameras at two locations at the S-curve on Interstate 380 and keep, but move, cameras at two other spots there.

The city has until June 11 to comply with the DOT order, and Corbett said the City Council will meet in closed session after its meeting June 9 to listen to the police chief, the city attorney and the city manager before making a decision.

'Nobody likes to be pushed around,' the mayor said.

However, he said it might take two years to fight the DOT through the court system at a cost in legal fees for the city and state for an outcome that the city thinks it might win, but could lose, he said.

At the same time, Corbett said he recently commissioned his own annual phone poll of local residents, in part, to check their appetite for taking the DOT to court.

Only 30.5 percent of respondents favored suing the DOT, while 61.5 said the city should abide by the DOT order and 7.5 percent said they were undecided, he said. He pays for the survey with his campaign funds.

'It's clear from the survey that the citizens of Cedar Rapids have developed a little fatigue on this issue. The majority wants us to move on,' he said.

Corbett's sentiment not to sue also is consistent with his role as board member of the recently launched Iowa Partnership for Clean Water, the mission of which is to work with farmers on chemical runoff into waterways, in contrast to the lawsuit filed by the Des Moines Water Works board against three rural counties.

'People are tired of all the lawsuits,' the mayor said of his lack of interest in taking on the DOT in court. 'In general, the public wants things to get worked out.'

Corbett said he spoke directly with DOT Director Paul Trombino last week to ask if the DOT would be willing to agree to allow the city to keep cameras at two I-380 locations for five years once the city moves them into the S-curve as directed by the DOT order.

'I reached out to the director and asked for a five-year contract so we're not dealing with this year after year,' the mayor said. 'I got the feeling from him that it was not the DOT's intent to go through all the trouble to make the city move cameras at two locations only to take them down next year. But I'm more comfortable codifying the agreement.'

Corbett said he hoped to get a response from Trombino before the City Council votes on the matter.

Traffic cameras in Iowa DOT report

The city has had enforcement cameras in place since 2010, and now has them at the four spots at the S-curve and at three busy intersections in the city. The DOT has said the cameras can remain at the intersections, though it has told the city to turn off speed enforcement at one of them that is placed too close to a change in the speed limit.

Corbett said he didn't think that Trombino, Gov. Terry Branstad or some in the Iowa Legislature supported enforcement cameras anywhere in the state. An effort to ban them failed in the Iowa Legislature in recent years, so Trombino has turned to the state's regulatory rules to accomplish the job, he said.

'The anti-camera people have switched gears and developed this regulation, taking away local control from cities around the state, including Cedar Rapids,' Corbett said.

A handful of other cities, including Des Moines, have been forced by the DOT to take down cameras, too, and some are contemplating court action, he said.

In recommending that the city comply with the DOT order, Corbett said he has not changed his view that the cameras have reduced crashes and eliminated fatalities in the S-curve on I-380 through downtown.

'We had a problem of people basically rocketing into town at 70-plus miles per hour, causing an increase in accidents,' he said. 'The cameras have been a good way to reduce those accidents and deaths.'

For its part, the DOT has said that it has taken its own steps — including a special high-traction surface — through the S-curve to reduce crashes there. As a result, the agency has said it's not easy to quantify how any one safety enhancement, such as enforcement cameras, has contributed to traffic safety.

The DOT has said, too, that it is permitting cameras to remain in Cedar Rapids at two spots on the S-curve, which the agency has said will be the only permanent enforcement cameras on an interstate in the nation.

Corbett said it will take the city and the DOT 60 to 90 days to begin to assess the value of cameras at the two new locations on the S-curve should the city agree to move them.

The mayor said the city's camera enforcement to date has ticketed motorists who exceed the speed limit by 12 mph or more. The city may look to drop the limit to 8 or 9 miles over the limit in line with the severity of the S-curve at the new locations for the cameras, he said.

Steve Gent, director of traffic and safety at the DOT, said Monday that the city, not the DOT, has the authority to decide at what level above the speed limit it will issue tickets.

The city estimates that its network of enforcement cameras brings in about $3 million in net revenue a year. The city may lose $2.2 million of the net revenue in complying with the DOT order, the city has estimated.