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DES MOINES — Only 11 fixed automated traffic enforcement cameras in just five Iowa cities have been approved by the state, meaning the vast majority of the cameras will be turned off Tuesday, according to information provided to The Gazette.
The Iowa Department of Transportation on Monday issued its rulings on 348 permit requests from 28 Iowa municipalities, which under a new state law were required to justify the use of automated traffic enforcement cameras that are used to identify and cite drivers who violate speed limits.
Using guidelines prescribed in a new state law approved by lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May, the DOT approved only 11 fixed cameras and denied 128. There will now be fixed automated traffic cameras in just five Iowa cities: four each in Cedar Rapids and Davenport, and one each in Des Moines, Marshalltown and Le Claire.
Cedar Rapids requested permits for 13 cameras; the DOT rejected nine and approved four — on I-380 at Diagonal Drive northbound and J Avenue southbound, and two at Williams Boulevard and 16th Avenue SW.
The DOT rejected all five requests from Marion.
Other Iowa cities whose requests for camera permits were denied include: Buffalo, Charles City, Chester, Davenport, Des Moines, Fayette, Fredericksburg, Hazelton, Hudson, Independence, La Porte City, Le Claire, Lee County, Marshalltown, Maynard, Muscatine, Oelwein, Postville, Prairie City, Strawberry Point, Tama, Waterloo, Webster City and West Union.
Iowa DOT rejects most local traffic cameras
The Iowa Department of Transportation has approved only four of Cedar Rapids’ automated traffic enforcement locations – and neither of Marion’s two fixed locations. Cedar Rapids had requested 13 cameras and Marion five.
Approved in Cedar Rapids:
Rejected in Cedar Rapids:
Rejected in Marion:
The DOT approved 143 mobile cameras statewide and denied 66.
Both of Cedar Rapids’ requests for mobile locations were approved. Marion requested permits for 54 mobile locations: 29 were approved and 25 denied.
Tickets cannot be issued from mobile units in cities with a population of less than 20,000.
In an email to The Gazette, Marion City Manager Ryan Waller said Monday, “Marion is simply reviewing the DOT’s determination before figuring out next steps.”
City leaders ‘assess the impact’ of DOT’s decision
“We are working to assess the impact of this decision on public safety,” Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said in a statement. “While revenue generation is not the program’s goal, we are also evaluating financial impacts. We are considering our next steps.”
Cedar Rapids’ annual report on traffic cameras notes that crashes on the Interstate 380 S-curve through downtown have decreased since the cameras were deployed there.
In the three years before the cameras were deployed, an average of 5.3 crashes per month were recorded on the S-curve. Since 2019, the average has been 2.8 crashes per month, according to city data.
While the DOT approved two cameras in the I-380 S-curve, it denied permits for two others. One of those is on the northbound side of the interstate at J Avenue, where traffic has exited the S-curve. The other is on the southbound side of the interstate at First Avenue, just as traffic is making its way through a curve in the road.
Automated traffic enforcement cameras have been the subject of debate at the Iowa Capitol for years. Supporters of the cameras say they encourage safer driving.
Critics say they infringe upon civil liberties and allege many are used not for safety but as revenue generators for local governments and law enforcement agencies.
DOT cites three reasons for permit denials
When seeking a permit under the new law, the municipality must provide supporting data, including traffic and crash figures that illustrate why a traffic camera is needed in that location. The law instructs the Iowa DOT to determine whether a camera is “appropriate and necessary and the least restrictive means to address the traffic safety issues at a location.”
In its 128 denials of fixed traffic cameras, the DOT most regularly cited “not the least restrictive means” as a reason, in 62 rejections. In 39 denials, the DOT determined the cameras were “not necessary.”
Twenty-seven fixed camera locations were denied because the cameras were not being used before Jan. 1, 2024. The law states that a municipality using a fixed camera at a location for the first time on or after Jan. 1, 2024, cannot be issued a permit by the DOT before July 1, 2026.
As of January, at least 25 Iowa cities had been operating automated traffic enforcement cameras, according to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
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