Two I-380 speed cameras likely will be moved

CEDAR RAPIDS — A day after the Iowa Department of Transportation ruled on traffic enforcement cameras, Mayor Ron Corbett said Wednesday the city likely will move without appeal speed cameras at two spots on Interstate 380 so they are closer to the crash-prone S-curve through downtown.

At the same time, Corbett said the city will take the 30-day period allowed by the DOT to review the state agency's order to take down cameras at two other spots along I-380 as motorists leave the S-curve.

'The DOT has taken their time to come to their ruling, and we'll take the full 30 days to respond to their order to remove cameras,' the mayor said.

Also in its report on the Cedar Rapids network of 29 enforcement cameras, the DOT permitted the city to continue to operate cameras in two directions at three intersections with just one change. The cameras at First Avenue E and 10th Street must be used only for red-light violations and not speed violations in the westbound direction because that camera is too close to a speed-limit change.

Almost 90 percent of the 90,317 tickets issued by the city's camera network in 2013 came from two spots — northbound lanes on I-380 at J Avenue NE, and southbound lanes at that location.

The DOT ordered the northbound cameras, which generated 40 percent of the tickets, to come down.

At the same time, the agency said that the southbound cameras, which generated 49 percent of the citations, could still operate but need to move about a half mile south toward the S-curve. The move likely will result in fewer violations as traffic typically slows for the curve.

In total, the city had expected about $4.7 million in revenue from the cameras in the budget year beginning July 1, with the city netting $3 million and the rest going to the camera vendor and other expenses.

Additional revenue above the $4.7 million is never collected because some people don't pay the fines. The city says 66 percent pay, and 34 percent of the tickets are sent to a collection agency. The agency collects 28 percent of what it tries to get, the city said.

With the removal of the cameras on the northbound interstate lanes at J Avenue NE, the city might expect to lose 40 percent of the $3 million in revenue, or about $1.2 million.

The DOT also has ordered removal of interstate cameras at the southbound lanes at First Avenue W, but they accounted for only 1,234 citations in 2013.

In addition, the DOT has asked the city to move cameras on northbound lanes of the interstate at Diagonal Drive SW about half mile north and closer to the S-curve. The cameras at Diagonal Drive SW also issued a relatively small number of citations, 4,218, in 2013.

According to city data provided to the DOT, the number of crashes on I-380 in the stretch between the cameras has declined from 82 in 2008 and 2009 before the cameras went up in 2010 to 59 in 2012 and 2013.

On Wednesday, Jim Larew, an Iowa City lawyer representing motorists in a legal action against the city, said his clients continue to believe that there are 'serious legal problems' with the camera program.