Local planning officials are pushing to make Lewiston and Auburn test cases for red light cameras.
Don Craig, director of the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center, said he was turned down in a request for $300,000 in grant money from the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety last month. That money would have been used to install cameras at two intersections, one in Auburn and another in Lewiston, that would take pictures of drivers running red lights.
“They’re very tight with funds this year,” Craig said. “We were up against some tough competition for the money, and we knew that going in.”
They’ll keep asking, Craig said, until they get some funding.
“We need to evaluate this technology and see if it’s something that can work here,” Craig said.
The cameras would likely go up at the Union Street bypass in Auburn and along Sabattus Street in Lewiston, but Craig said they haven’t settled on any locations yet.
“We’re looking for any intersection that is high-traffic, and known to be the location of a high number of red-light crashes,” Craig said.
Red-light cameras have been used to cut down on traffic accidents in other states. The cameras snap pictures of cars as they cross the intersection after the light turns red. In several states, the pictures are mailed to drivers, along with a traffic ticket and fine.
Maine law wouldn’t allow tickets to be issued based on the pictures from the cameras, Craig said.
“We have in mind a pilot program to study the cameras’ impact,” he said. “The first six months we would just set a baseline and see how many people run red lights. After that, we’d start mailing the pictures to them, and say ‘See, we caught you.’ Then we’d evaluate what that does to their behavior.”
The transportation center is sponsoring a workshop Monday morning at the Lewiston Ramada Inn to discuss photo enforcement. Craig said he is expecting state legislators and police officials from around the state to attend the meeting.
“To make this a viable law enforcement tool, we’d need support from the Legislature,” Craig said.
staylor@sunjournal.com
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