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Alamita council approves two‑intersection red‑light camera pilot, directs one‑year review
Summary
The Alamita City Council voted unanimously to pilot automated red‑light cameras at Park Street & Otis Drive and Webster Street & Atlantic Avenue, directing police to return with evaluated safety and cost data in one year. Council members pressed staff on equity, privacy and vendor policy before approving the plan.
The Alamita City Council on March 4 approved a two‑intersection automated red‑light camera pilot and directed the police department to return in one year with safety and fiscal results.
Lieutenant Brian Foster of the Almita Police Department told council the cameras would capture high‑definition stills and video 24/7 and that staff selected Park Street & Otis Drive and Webster Street & Atlantic Avenue based on traffic volume, pedestrian and bicycle exposure and compatible signal infrastructure. “Weare anticipating approximately 35 violations per day from those two proposed intersections for a little over 12,000 violations per year,” Foster said, citing vendor models and local traffic counts.
Why it matters: staff emphasized that red‑light collisions in 2024 represented a small share of total collisions but a high share of injury crashes; Foster said 50% of the citys red‑light collisions involved injury. The pilot is framed as a Vision Zero tool to reduce severe injuries at signalized intersections and to provide evidence for any future expansion to automated speed enforcement.
Cost, staffing and policy: Foster presented an initial budget estimate of roughly $527,500 in the first year for the two‑site pilot, including about $480,000 for camera/software/vendor services and about $47,500 in staff review time (an estimated 950 hours at about $50/hour). He said vendors commonly use five‑year contracts and that every citation would be subject to human review before issuance. Data retention would follow Vehicle Code requirements (images retained for six months or until adjudication), and access would be limited to the police department with supervisory approval; staff proposed modeling a use and access policy on the citys existing ALPR policy.
Council concerns and safeguards: members pressed staff on equity and privacy. Vice Mayor Prior and others asked about the financial burden of fines (county court fines typically run near $490), the availability of traffic school or payment plans through the county system, and how the program would avoid disparate impacts. Foster said the county court process and existing options (traffic school, income‑based arrangements) would apply, and that the department would consider vendor capabilities for flexible administrative remedies. He also described a required 30‑day warning period after activation during which notices would be sent without fines.
Next steps: Council Member Jensen moved to approve the pilot at the two intersections and asked staff to return with a one‑year impact report; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Staff will issue requests for proposals, develop a use/access policy for council review, install required signage and implement a public education campaign prior to activation.
The council directed staff to return with evaluation data after about a year so members can see whether violations stabilize and whether collisions and injury counts decline.
