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…]