It will be at least one month before the Department of Transportation makes any decision on the first traffic camera reports.
New rules required cities with speed or red-light cameras along state roadways to submit a report by May 1st to show how the cameras are being used to improve traffic safety. The director of the D-O-T’s office of traffic and safety, Steve Gent, told the Transportation Commission 10 cities or counties have the cameras and six — Davenport, Muscatine, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Sioux City — filed reports. Clive did not file a report as the city has decided to shut down its cameras in June. Windsor Heights and Fort Dodge also did not file reports.
Polk County also did not submit a report and Gent says he has been unable to find out why county officials have not responded. Gent says the reports vary greatly in length, beginning with the six-page Sioux City report.
Gent says the purpose of the rules is to ensure the cameras are making the roadways safer, not just increasing revenue.
