Oak Ridge Today

Five ORNL scientists rated among world’s most influential

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Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Five Oak Ridge National Laboratory physicists, including Deputy for Science and Technology Ramamoorthy Ramesh, have been named by Thomson Reuters as some of the best and brightest of our time.

The list consists of scientists whose work has been most frequently cited by peers as identified by Thomson Reuters platforms. Citation data was divided into two categories—2002-2012 and 2012-2013—with the latter labeled “hot papers,” ranking in the top 0.1 percent by citations in their field. Seventeen researchers earned this distinction while some 3,200 were included in the second section of the ranking with citations ranking in the top 1 percent for their field and year of publication.

Ramesh, who was actually listed in two categories—physics and materials science—was named to his position at ORNL in June 2013 after serving as the Plato Malozemoff Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, with a joint appointment as a faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He holds a doctorate in materials science from the University of California, Berkeley, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011 in recognition of his contributions to the science and technology of functional complex oxide materials. [Read more…]

Council does not extend traffic camera contract

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Traffic Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue

The Oak Ridge City Council did not extend the traffic camera contract with Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., on Monday, and the current five-year contract expires April 21.

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. March 25.

After five years, some vigorous opposition, and a few contentious meetings, the traffic cameras in Oak Ridge will be removed. The Oak Ridge City Council did not extend the five-year contract with the camera vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems, on Monday.

The vote to extend the contract for two years with a few changes was 3-4.

Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller, and Council member Charlie Hensley voted in favor of the extension. Council members Trina Baughn, Anne Garcia Garland, Chuck Hope, and David Mosby voted “no.” The current contract expires April 21.

Among the proposed changes, if an extension had been granted, were mobile units, different camera locations, and a new revenue split between the city and Redflex.

[Read more…]

Council considers ending, extending traffic cameras on Monday

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Red-light Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider extending or ending the traffic camera contract.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider extending a controversial traffic camera contract for two years, or ending it.

The Council postponed a vote earlier this month. It will now be considered during a special 7 p.m. meeting on Monday.

The current five-year contract with Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Arizona expires April 21. If it’s not extended, the city staff has asked Council to consider installing a traffic signal in front of the Oak Ridge High School on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The high school stoplight would have to be approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. It could cost $150,000 to $200,000 and take nine months to install. [Read more…]

Traffic camera revenues top $6 million, city keeps $2.6 million

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Traffic Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike

The traffic camera for the westbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School. More than half of the speeding violations issued in 2013 were at the camera systems near the high school.

The four traffic camera systems in Oak Ridge have generated more than $6 million in ticket revenues during a roughly five-year period. The city has kept $2.6 million of that, while the camera vendor has collected the other $3.6 million.

The amount of money generated each year has fallen from about $2 million in fiscal year 2010 to roughly $1 million today. That could be at least in part because drivers have grown more accustomed to the cameras.

The automated devices issue $50 citations to drivers who speed or run red lights, and the proceeds are split between the city and camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz. So far, the city has collected about 42 percent of the total revenues while Redflex has kept 58 percent.

The city revenues were originally put into a general fund, but starting in Fiscal Year 2011, they were deposited into a special fund that has been used to pay for pedestrian safety projects. That fund now has a cash balance of $778,305. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Council asked to extend, or terminate, red-light camera contract

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Red-light Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider terminating a five-year contract for traffic enforcement cameras—or extending it for two years.

Note: This story was last updated at 3:25 p.m.

For some people, traffic cameras in Oak Ridge have been an irritant since they were installed, a detriment to visitors and businesses, an undesirable surveillance tool, and an unwelcome outsourcing of a police function.

But for others, the four systems erected on busy roadways in April 2009 have helped slow down traffic, reduced car crashes, and provided extra revenues to the city, including for community safety projects.

On Monday night, the seven members of the Oak Ridge City Council will have to take a side. They have been presented two options: extend the contract with camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.—or terminate it.

If Council continues the program, the five-year contract with Redflex could be extended for two years, through April 21, 2016. If members end it, they have been asked to consider installing a traffic signal on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Oak Ridge High School. The stoplight could cost between $150,000 to $200,000, and it would have to be approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]

Pedestrian safety project at Jackson Square to be completed soon

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Jackson Square Pedestrian Improvements

Workers repave Broadway at Jackson Square on Oct. 25 as part of a pedestrian safety improvement project paid for with red light camera money.

The city-owned parking lot on the north side of Jackson Square now has two handicapped-accessible areas, and the pedestrian safety improvements under way there could be finished in another week, an official said Tuesday.

The project, which includes road and sidewalk work, is being done under a contract approved by Oak Ridge City Council in August.

It’s part of more than $500,000 worth of projects that use red light camera money. The other projects are designed to make eight Oak Ridge Turnpike intersections safer for pedestrians. Those improvements, which will provide a pedestrian walkway and crosswalk system near Oak Ridge Turnpike businesses, are estimated at $370,000. [Read more…]