In last Tuesday’s Council Meeting, the City Council voted unanimously authorized the use of speed cameras 24/7 in down town area.
This is an exception to the policy we have that limited the city to use of the automated enforcement from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
We expect to have at least one 24 / 7 camera in old town area. The other existing cameras in the city will work 6am-8pm as usual.
The State allows municipalities to have speed cameras within close proximities to the higher educational institutions, such as the University of Maryland.
The Council decision followed 3 deaths on this small stretch of Route 1 and caused much concerns among the City Council members.
The speed cameras have been proved to be successful in preventing over speeding. The camera revenue has been going down steadily over the past 3 years.
The other measures the City, State, UMD and the County have been working to improve pedestrian safety on down town part of Route 1 include reducing speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph, putting temporary in block median barriers to prevent jay walking and flashing red HAWK signals at the Hartwick Road.
We expect to have these measures in place before the start of next fall school year.