City boards to decide future of Amarillo's red light cameras

AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) - The fate of Amarillo's red light cameras will be decided soon, which could mean adding more, or getting rid of them altogether.

No one likes getting caught by the red light camera - and each of Amarillo's nine cameras catches an average of nine red-light-runners per day.

But city leaders aren't in a rush to get rid of them.

"The most important thing is that we do everything we can to keep Amarillo citizens safe," said Mayor Ginger Nelson. "The statistics and the facts show that red light cameras keep people safe. They definitely decrease the number of accidents as well as the number of fatalities at those intersections."

Data collected by the city's Public Works Department showed there has been almost a 30% city wide decrease in intersection related fatal crashes since the cameras were installed in 2008.

The red light cameras are located at the following intersections:

1. NB and SB Coulter St. @ Elmhurst Dr.
2. SB S. Pierce St. @ SE 3rd St.
3. SB S. Pierce St. @ SE 11th Ave.
4. NB S. Ross St. @ E. I-40 SFR
5. WB W I-40 NFR @ Coulter St.
6. NB Amarillo Blvd W./I-40 @ Tascosa Rd./Gem Lake Rd.
7. WB Amarillo Blvd E./I-40 @ N. Pierce St.
8. WB Amarillo Blvd E./I-40 @ N. Fillmore St.
9. SB S. Taylor  St./US 287 @ SE 10th Ave.

The city's contract with the camera company American Traffic Solutions will automatically renew for five more years at the end of August unless staff says otherwise.

Public Works Director Raymond Lee does not think the Traffic Advisory Board will get rid of the cameras, but rather look at moving them or even adding more.

"We'll actually be getting together this coming week to actually sit down with the police department to look at the accident information and see if we need to add locations, eliminate locations, or altogether just keep it as it is," said Lee.

Since their installation, there has only been one fatality at an intersection with a red light camera.

The Traffic Advisory Board will vote on their plans for the traffic cameras Wednesday afternoon, and the final decision will be up to the city council.

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