50 more speed cameras will soon be coming to Chicago streets
Speed cameras are all over Chicago, and now, there are going to be even more.
A total of 50 more speed cameras are coming this year. Some people welcome the cameras as means of making the roads safer. But one Chicago alderman — while he approved one requested by the residents of his ward — is still not a fan.
One speed camera stands on 76th Street between Loomis Boulevard and Racine Avenue in Englewood. It is right in front of the Continental Plaza senior apartments, and near a roller-skating rink and a park.
Driver Dijonay Harris approves of the placement.
"I think speed cameras are a good thing," Harris said. "It be a lot of crazy drivers out here, and I don't want nobody to like hit me as I'm going past the green light, you know what I'm saying? And people need to slow down too."
Ald. David Moore (17th) said his constituents asked for the speed camera to be installed at the 76th Street location.
"You've got to listen to the voices of your constituents. If they feel like it's a need, then you give them that need," he said. "I don't think we should ever just be populating speed cameras in different places."
Moore said when it comes to the Chicago Department of Transportation installing 50 more speed cameras in the city, he does not want another one in his ward.
The new cameras are to be placed through an alderman's request. The speed cameras would bring in about $11 million in a budget that is over $17 billion for this year.
Moore said he does not believe speed cameras are the answer when it comes to addressing the budget crisis.
"Number one, it's a regressive tax. Regressive taxes do not work for communities, especially communities where there are low-income communities," said Moore. "It doesn't work — too much of a burden on them."
Joseph Eric Griffin says the speed cameras have led to a $2,000 burden for him. That is how much he owes right now, in tickets.
"We're barely transporting ourselves. We're getting on the trains and the buses," said Griffin, "but then you come over here with people that barely got anything, and you want to hit them with speeding tickets. Come on man. That ain't right!"
In a statement, the Office of Mayor Brandon Johnson said:
"The City of Chicago does not rely on speed cameras to balance its budget. Mayor Johnson believes that speed cameras should be utilized to promote traffic safety in an equitable way, not as a revenue source for the city."
The Chicago Department of Transportation said the locations of all 50 speed cameras will be made public once the details are finalized.
Crash data, and areas with traffic concerns, are among the ways speed camera locations are chosen.
In 2023, 136 people were killed in traffic crashes on Chicago roadways. Speeding was a factor in at least 68% of those incidents.
