Duluth gives green light to red-light cameras

Duluth City Administrator Phil McLemore said Monday that LaserCraft pitched a new agreement a month ago that significantly reduced the cameras’ cost. Duluth will pay about $1,200 per camera per month, down from $3,600 per camera per month under the old contract, McLemore said. The three cameras - north-, south- and westbound at Pleasant Hill Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard - could be in operation Sept. 1 or earlier, he said.

“Basically, by the end of the year, it should be a break-even deal,” Duluth police Chief Randy Belcher said. “Taxpayers won’t have to pay anything, and the cameras will do what they were intended to do, which is to reduce the number of accidents. It should be a win-win situation.”

In March, Duluth, Lilburn, Norcross, Snellville and Suwanee ditched the devices that monitor and record red-light violations. Officials said although violations, accidents and injuries were down, so were citations, which helped pay for the automated ticketing program that was costing some cities more than $400,000 a year.

The drop in citations was due, in part, to a state law that went into effect Jan. 1 that mandated a one-second addition to the yellow phase at all camera intersections.

McLemore said after Duluth deactivated its cameras, LaserCraft continued to record data at various intersections. He said the company found that violations surged.

“Apparently, once people got used to the longer yellow [light], they began taking advantage of that and ran the longer yellow,” McLemore said. “It doesn’t matter how much time you give them, they’re going to continue to take advantage of it.”

Norcross could soon join Duluth and Lilburn. Mayor Bucky Johnson said recently that Norcross leaders are weighing the possibility of reactivating cameras at two intersections.