Committee votes to forward photo–red-light ordinance to council after staff briefing

A Winchester City committee voted to forward an ordinance to City Council that would amend the Winchester City Code to establish photo-monitoring enforcement of traffic signals at up to two intersections, staff said.

Deputy City Manager John Piper and the police department briefed the committee on state law requirements and staff work needed before implementing photo red-light cameras. Piper said Virginia law requires a local ordinance and limits automated enforcement locations by population; based on the city’s size the ordinance as drafted would permit two intersections.

Piper said the program’s primary goal is to reduce crashes at high‑collision intersections and that the police department supports the concept because some locations are difficult to enforce through traditional patrols. He said staff must document enforcement challenges, perform a traffic‑engineering study, and analyze signal timing to ensure adequate yellow intervals before any camera is activated. The city would be required to post study findings and implement a warning period and signage similar to existing school‑zone camera programs.

Key program details described by staff: the civil penalty would be $50 for photo‑enforced red‑light violations; the fine would be civil only and would not carry license points, staff said. School‑zone cameras and stop‑arm cameras are governed by state law and carry higher fines ($100 and $250 were cited by staff) and different statutory controls. Piper said the current vendor is Ultimate and that the program is vendor‑funded: vendor fees cover startup and operating costs and the city would retain the $50 civil fee once contract thresholds are met, producing no net cost to taxpayers under the proposed contract structure.

Piper and police staff identified three intersections with the highest crash counts for preliminary study: Millwood and Pleasant Valley; Adams and Pleasant Valley; and South Loudoun near the bridge/Jubilee area. Staff said final placement would depend on the required traffic‑engineering analysis and timing review.

After the briefing, a committee member made a motion to forward the ordinance to City Council with a recommendation to approve and a second was recorded. The committee voice vote approved the motion; members responded “Aye.” Staff will continue the engineering and timing analyses and will post required documentation online if the council approves the ordinance.