WA - Speeders in Big Y work zone will receive $137 ticket

Speeders in Big Y work zone will receive $137 ticket
Speeders in Big Y work zone will receive $137 ticket


By Rick Steigmeyer
World staff writer
Posted March 06, 2008

PESHASTIN — Speeders captured on cameras near the Big Y-Peshastin East Interchange construction zone starting next month will be mailed a $137 ticket.

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Speed limits in the area during the seven months of construction will be reduced from 50 to 35 mph, said Jeff Adamson, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The DOT will put up signs in April warning drivers to slow down while driving through the construction area.

The Big Y intersection, at Highways 2 and 97 in Peshastin, will undergo a $21.6 million face-lift in a project expected to last until fall.

A camera will be used to record license plate numbers of speeders from April through October.

Registered owners of vehicles caught speeding will be mailed a ticket. Because the camera won't be able to positively identify who is driving the vehicle, Adamson said, the ticket will be similar to a parking ticket and won't become a part of the vehicle owner's driving record.

That won't be the case if a driver is caught speeding in the construction zone and is stopped by a Washington State Patrol trooper, however. In that case, the ticket will go on the driver's record as a moving infraction and the $137 fee will be doubled, Adamson said.

The six-month test program using cameras to slow traffic in construction zones was authorized by the 2007 state Legislature.

The program will be used in five areas this year. Due to a shortage of equipment, the cameras may not always be at every area all summer, Adamson said. But the signs will be there and drivers won't know when they are being photographed.

"If we didn't see one ticket go out by mail, then the program was a success," Adamson said