New York Public News Network | By Samuel King
Speed cameras are coming to more work zones across New York as part of the state budget approved by lawmakers.
There already are portable work zone cameras on roadways like the New York State Thruway or other high-speed expressways. Now, they can be deployed on all New York State Department of Transportation highways.
There were 366 work zone crashes on NYSDOT highways last year, resulting in 58 injuries and two deaths, according to the state. Another 228 crashes happened on the Thruway.
“When we go out and ask them to do this work on the roads, whether it’s on a state road or a local road, our workers need to feel safe. And unfortunately, they don’t,” said Sen. Jeremy Cooney, D-Rochester and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. “By implementing and expanding our existing work zone safety program, I think that we’ll start to … at least be able to give confidence to people that they could be able to come home at the end of the night.”
Hundreds of thousands of citations have been issued on both NYSDOT highways and the Thruway over the past two years.
The expanded camera usage was part of a larger budget bill opposed by some Republicans. Assemblymember Michael Reilly, a Staten Island Republican, said he had concerns about expanding camera programs after complaints from constituents about the current school zone camera system.
“If it’s operating at the time when there’s actual work being done, then by all means that’s something I support,” Reilly said. “But if it gets egregious like the school speed zone cameras, that’s where I’ll have an issue, because if you have cameras being operated when there’s no work being done, then it’s a gotcha moment, and it’s getting money.”
Cooney said there is signage denoting that cameras are in use on a roadway. He also is hoping to get bills passed that would increase penalties for drivers who fail to move over in work zones, and drivers who are constant speeders through work zones.
Those bills were part of the Senate’s budget proposal but did not make it into the final budget during this session.
Image: A sign alerts motorists to speed cameras along a highway work zone. (Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul)