Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about speed cameras

An Exit Interview With Chicago Transportation Chief Gabe Klein

By John Greenfield | Nov 18, 2013 | 42 Comments

[A shorter version of this article ran in Checkerboard City, John’s column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] Maybe I jinxed things by naming transportation czar Gabe Klein as the city’s best department head in Newcity’s October 31 Best of Chicago issue, because the very next day he announced he was […]

Waguespack Kvetches About Traffic Cameras and Higher Parking Fines

By John Greenfield | Oct 23, 2013 | 43 Comments

As I’ve written several times, 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack is one of City Council’s key independent voices, and he’s also a frequent bike commuter and a likeable person. That makes it especially annoying that he keeps making backward statements about transportation and public space issues. First he worried about the effect that swapping car […]

200,000-Plus Warnings in 40 Days Proves We Have a Speeding Epidemic

By John Greenfield | Oct 15, 2013 | 51 Comments

On Friday the Chicago Department of Transportation announced that nine automated speed enforcement cameras near four neighborhood parks have issued warnings to more than 200,000 speeders in the first 40 days of operation. Of those violations, more than 200 involved drivers going over 60 mph, at least twice the 30 mph speed limit. Ten were […]

Eyes on the Street: Gompers Park Speed Cameras in Effect

By Steven Vance | Aug 27, 2013 | 33 Comments

In the video, one car will be issued a warning. Watch for the subtle flash reflecting against the trees. Chicago’s first two speed cameras started monitoring car traffic yesterday around the Gompers Park “children’s safety zone” in North Mayfair. The speed cameras are at 4124 W Foster Avenue and 5119 N Pulaski Road and will […]

Eyes on the Street: Deteriorating Safety Infrastructure in Humboldt Park

By Steven Vance | Mar 5, 2013 | 20 Comments

Pavement markings installed in 2012 in the Humboldt Park neighborhood to designate bike lanes and “Children’s Safety Zones” are quickly disappearing, less than six months after installation. The buffered bike lane on Division Street was installed in two phases. The first phase striped four westbound blocks and two eastbound blocks in May. Those are holding […]

CDOT Targets 50 Sites Near Parks and Schools for Ped Safety Fixes in 2013

By Steven Vance | Feb 12, 2013 | 3 Comments

The Chicago Department of Transportation plans to implement pedestrian safety measures at 50 high-priority sites near schools and parks this year, the agency revealed at last week’s meeting of the Mayor’s Pedestrian Advisory Council. The changes will include the addition of speeding enforcement cameras, high-visibility crosswalks, and signs to show drivers how fast they’re traveling. […]

Making the Whole Route to School Safer for Walking and Biking

By Steven Vance | Feb 1, 2013 | 6 Comments

Earlier this week, the Chicago Tribune published an analysis of Chicago traffic crash data, finding that “from 2007 through 2011, nearly 1,700 youths, ages 5 to 18, were struck by vehicles in Chicago within about a block of a school.” Half of all pedestrian injuries to children occur near schools, and it’s great to have […]