New Castle County committee considers five-month pilot for speed cameras on Milltown Road

Ordinance 25-071, a proposal to add Article 5 (Electronic Speed Monitoring System) to New Castle County Code Chapter 34 (Traffic and Vehicles) to assist enforcement of Delaware Code Title 21, §4170A, was discussed in detail at the New Castle County Public Safety Committee on June 10.

Councilman Tim Sheldon, the ordinance sponsor, described the proposal as a pilot and said funding for the five-month trial would come from state legislators. "For the 5 months, this will be paid for by Representative Kim Williams ... and Senator Manzanvinos," Sheldon told the committee, adding the pilot sites would include Milltown Road and McKeen Road. Sheldon emphasized the measure is "not a moneymaker" and framed it as a safety pilot rather than a revenue program.

Council members asked how fines or fees might support local volunteer ambulance or fire funds; Councilman Koneko said council staff advised the state code provides a $10 allocation to the volunteer ambulance company fund for certain camera fines. Councilman Kaneko asked who will collect and analyze outcome data for the pilot; Chief James Leonard (Colonel James Leonard), chief of the New Castle County Department of Public Safety, said the vendor would handle citations and the police traffic unit supervisor would review incidents and notify the vendor weekly when citations should be issued. "The machine cost $5,700 a month to rent," Leonard said, and the county can bill back costs for signage, speed studies and processing; revenue beyond recovery of county expenses would go to the Office of Highway Safety.

Leonard and Lieutenant Alexander Noor described operational details: the county's traffic unit is certified to perform required speed studies, signage will be required and subject to DelDOT permitting, and the specific vendor under state contract is known as Elevate. Leonard said the vendor operates the system as with prior red-light and work-zone camera programs and that the speed monitoring equipment would largely be a vendor-operated service rather than a patrol function.

Public comment focused on Milltown Road. Dorothy Raider and Jill Lorensky, residents of Milltown Road, described high speeds, lack of sidewalks, children and buses using shoulders, and past collisions. "We could curb driver behavior with relatively inexpensive speed cameras that could pay for themselves," Lorensky said, urging action to protect pedestrians. Committee members also raised pedestrian-safety trends as a rationale for the pilot.

Committee discussion recorded operational concerns: who will staff signage placement, whether cameras will be movable, how DelDOT will permit signage on shoulders, and whether police will be involved in enforcement processing. Chief Leonard said the initial pilot is financed by state legislators and that it will be implemented once contract details and funding are secured; he said the county has been working on logistics for about two years.

Why it matters: sponsors and residents framed the pilot as a safety intervention in high-speed corridors and as an evidence-based test the county can evaluate after five months. Committee members asked that the county collect and return data on costs, citations, and safety outcomes at the pilot's conclusion.

Ending: The committee heard the presentation and public comment and postponed final action pending contract and funding confirmations; the transcript does not record a committee vote on Ordinance 25-071 during the June 10 meeting.