OR - Red-light camera contract gets green light from Albany

Red-light camera contract gets green light from Albany

Once the deal is signed, intersections will be selected where the cameras are

to be installed

Cameras that take pictures of red-light runners now are expected to be installed in Albany in about three months.

Cameras were expected to be on the job last fall. Then the target date was changed to the first of the year and then to early spring.

Albany Police Chief Ed Boyd said contract negotiations are taking longer than expected because of the number of people involved in repeated reviews.

The City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to authorize Boyd to sign a contract between the city and camera provider Redflex Traffic Systems of Culver City, Calif.

Boyd told the council that once the contract is signed, representatives from Redflex and the police department will drive around the city to select the intersections for the cameras.

Several have been identified as possibilities:

Pacific Boulevard at Queen Avenue, Ninth Avenue and Lyon Street, Highway 20 and Spring Hill Drive, Santiam Highway and Waverly Drive, Queen and Geary Street, Ninth and Geary, Pacific and Geary and Pacific and 34th Avenue.

When the cameras are operating, Redflex will issue tickets to drivers that are photographed entering an intersection after the light has turned red. Police will review the photos before a traffic ticket is mailed to the registered owner.

The registered vehicle owner will be notified by mail of an infraction in 10 days or less. The notification includes photographs, the ticket and a “Certification of Innocence” form. Directions will be included on what to do if the driver believes there was no violation.

At the same time, police have access to a secure Web site and can review potential violations. Police will view four photographs that include pictures of license plates, the vehicle and the driver.

The city will split the fines with the company when they are paid.

Boyd told the council it would be about three months before any cameras are installed.

He also said the public will be notified where the cameras are to be installed.

The exact terms of the contract — such as how many intersections and what percentage of ticket revenue would go to the city and the company, respectively — were not made clear.

City Manager Wes Hare said today the company would install the system at no charge in hopes of earning a profit on ticket revenue.