Newest speed camera zone is on Interstate 70
The State Highway Administration will deploy work zone speed cameras along Interstate 70 around Frederick as part of a $40 million project of safety improvements in that corridor.
According to the agency, the cameras will be deployed Monday but will issue warnings only for 21 days. As of May 23, the cameras will issue citations for vehicles going 12 mph or more above the 55-mph speed limit.
The I-70 corridor project includes two new bridges over South Street. improved ramp access from that street and Monocacy Boulevard, new merge lanes and a new railroad crossing in that area.
The speed camera zone would be the sixth instituted under the SHA's Maryland SafeZones program, which uses cameras and laser technology to enforce speed limits in long-term work zones. Other zones where cameras have been deployed include bridge replacements projects on the Beltway at Charles Street and Liberty Road; the Intercounty Connector project along Inbterstate 95 near Beltsville; Maryland 295 south of Baltimore, and the Express Toll Lane project on I-95 northeast of Baltimore.
The Frederick project is expected to be completed in summer 2013.
Comments
Marty needs the money........
Posted by: Gary | April 26, 2011 8:39 PM
That's great. Let's take the spot of the biggest bottleneck on 70 between Baltimore and Hagerstown and slow it down even further. Thanks for adding 20 minutes to my commute.
Posted by: Jerry | April 27, 2011 6:25 AM
Why? Why? Why is it OK to speed, to run red lights, to cross the double yellow to cut in front of a pedestrian in a crosswalk? (The last happened to me on Easter Sunday.) I support red light cameras on every stop light, and speed cameras on every overpass. Drivers don't get to dictate what they consider "safe." That's up to the civil engineers that design the streets and highways. If you don't like the inconvenience of driving the speed limit, or coming to a full stop at stop signs and red lights, if it slows you down so much, leave earlier. If you don't want to pay into "Marty"'s speed camera pot, don't speed. Not that difficult, really.
Posted by: Chris | April 27, 2011 9:18 AM
Besides the rant from the SCAMERA side (I do wonder if Chris isn't astro turf for ACS).
I left this post on the NBC channel, But it is relevant here:
It is called for MONEY!
I wonder how many of the "speeders" will be whacked when:
1. There are no workers around (like happen in the DC area earlier this year). (also in Canada too: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2684.asp)
2. Just entering the work zone but slowing down.
3. Just leaving the work zone.
And let us not forget that most construction workers are killed by their OWN equipment! http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/07/729.asp
Fight the SCAM!
Ban the Cams!
www.motorists.org
www.camerafraud.com
www.banthecams.org
Posted by: Stephen | April 28, 2011 11:01 AM
Stephen, I can appreciate your attempts to discredit me; however, I am not a shill for ACS or any other organization. I am a law-abiding citizen and I expect others to abide the law, as well. I would rather there be more police officers on the street - when someone blows my doors off I don't shout, "Where is a camera when you need one?!" That having been said, I believe cameras work as a substitute. Even if speed cameras do not serve as an effective deterrent, they do serve to punish.
I find your scenarios interesting, though flawed. A posted speed limit is a posted speed limit, regardless of whether or not workers are in the area. I don't remember seeing signs that say, "Slow down only when workers are present." Workers are not the only hazard in a work zone - one must take into account equipment that normally isn't on the road, traffic pattern changes that may be in place (lane shifts, for example), narrowed lanes (such as on 295, near the exit for 195). These don't go away when the workers clock out.
I think it's fair to say that you don't care for speed cameras. What are your thoughts on red light cameras? There really is no gray there, is there? Either you enter the intersection when the light is red, or you don't.
Again, I ask - when did we become entitled to break the law when it moves us to do so?
Posted by: Chris | April 28, 2011 3:59 PM
I have no problem with these in principle. But with a violation, they need to mail you something that constitutes actual proof. Currently, they send two photos of your vehicle with the exact same timestamp (down to the second), showing it moving some unspecified distance in that unspecified time.
Show some facts that prove the assertion of speeding 12+ mph over. That could be as simple as indicating a distance traveled between the two photographs and time elapsed (even if in the fractions of a second). Without this, the violation notice does not pass legal muster.
Posted by: Jeff | April 29, 2011 8:49 AM
Michael,
I try in earnest to obey the speed limit laws (if only to avoid getting speed tickets), but I can't for the life of me find speed limit signs posted near many of the speed cameras or during long stretches of many other for that matter roads.
How can I obey the speed limit when I don't know what it is? Is there a master map anywhere or online so that we motorists don't have to keep looking for signs that are not there and can instead keep our eyes on the road (so much for safety concerns)?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 2, 2011 4:09 PM
It's too bad I can't avoid Maryland. I know this article is about I70 and not I95. Seriously. Delaware charges you less than $10 to drive through. Not only does Maryland charge you tolls, it extorts you with this crap. What kind of S**tty state is this? Now I'm certain the only thing MD is good for is crime and speed traps. Thanks MD. Now I'm going to avoid your state at all costs.
Posted by: bobk | July 1, 2011 4:32 AM