Montgomery County will install the first permanent speed camera next week at the intersection of Bluhill and Randolph Roads near Wheaton High School, County Executive Ike Leggett announced Friday.
County police have been using mobile speed enforcement vehicles equipped with cameras to catch speeders since March. Based on data collected between May 2 and Aug. 15 at the Wheaton intersection, police issued an average of nearly 50 citations each hour to drivers who exceeded the 35 mile per hour limit by more than 10 mph.
“This is the worst sitethat they’ve been monitoring next to a school,” county spokeswoman Esther Bowring said. “Yesterday they had somebody zoom by at 67 miles per hour. This is a residential neighborhood where kids are trying to cross the street to get to the high school, a nearby pool and rec center. It’s scary when people are speeding in such close proximity to children.”
In 2006, the State of Maryland granted Montgomery County the authority to operate the cameras for a pilot automated speed limit enforcement program in residential areas and school zones. The municipalities of Chevy Chase Village, the City of Gaithersburg, and the City of Rockville are implementing similar speed enforcement programs under the same law.
County Police Captain Tom Didone said thus far the mobile speed vans have generated well over 10,000 tickets, but the amount of ticket revenue is still less than the $1.5 million cost of the contract with Affiliated Computer Services, the company who runs the mobile speed camera van program.
“The goal is to make it self-sustaining and left over revenue will be put back into improving traffic safety,” Didone said.
Bowring said the county plans to install permanent cameras at about 15 to 20 sites over the next year.
