The Edmonds City Council is weighing a proposed ordinance to greatly extend the hours that automated speed cameras can operate within school zones.
The Edmonds City Council is weighing a proposed ordinance to greatly extend the hours that automated speed cameras can operate within school zones, increase the fees for tickets, with the goal of protecting students and families.
The proposal calls for the five active speed cameras -- which are posted within the school zones at Chase Lakes Elementary, Westgate Elementary, Edmonds-Woodway High School and Scriber Lake High school -- to be active 24 hours per day throughout the year.
Currently, the cameras are only watching for speeding during two 45-minute windows, during both drop-off and pick-up in the school zones. That drop-off window begins 30 minutes prior to school start time and ends 15 minutes after, while pick-up starts 15 minutes prior to final bell and ends 30 minutes after.
Since their installation in 2023, city administrators say that the cameras have been effective at reducing speeding in those areas.
"So 2 or 3 years after there's been at least 50% drop in violations, which obviously means, that's a significant reduction," explained Bertrand Hauss, a Transportation Engineer with the city, during a presentation to the council on Tuesday.
Now, the city is looking to stretch those results into a more consistent basis, year-round, in those same school zones.
Over the course of two weeks earlier this summer, city staff collected data within the four school zones, counting the number of drivers and those who exceeded the speed limit.
A graph displaying the results of 2 weeks of data collection at various school zones in the city of Edmonds, to see how many drivers speed in the area. (City of Edmonds)The data showed over 19,400 potential speeding violations, for drivers going 7 mph, or more, over the posted school zone limit. The most potential violations took place near Chase Lake Elementary, with the zones near Edmonds Woodway High School and Scriber lake both above 5,000 infractions.
A vast majority were speeding within the 7-12 mph range, a smaller portion driving in the 12-17 mph range -- and more than 440 drivers, were flagged as going 17 mph or more over the limit.
City administrators giving the presentation stated that the percentage of violators compared to total number of drivers that went through those areas, came out to roughly 9%. Further data showed that 76% of speeding drivers were non-Edmonds residents.
With this data, the city proposed changing their current fee of $145 for going 7 mph or more over the speed limit, with a scaled ticket fee system based on the severity and timing of the violation.
Proposed fines during drop-off and pick-up periods:
- 6-10 mph over: $200
- 11+ mph over: $290
Proposed fines outside school hours
- 7+ mph over: $144
"That's the whole point, is to slow people down. If they get an infraction, then hopefully that's the last time they get an infraction, and they slow down when going through those school zones," stated Stephanie Lucash, a city administrator who was a part of the presentation.
Other cities within the region have similar structures to their speeding fees, noted in the chart below from the City of Edmonds' presentation to the council.
A chart showing how other cities within Western Washington structure their automated speed camera fees, both in and out of school zones. (City of Edmonds)Some council members expressed concerns over the pricing of the tickets, citing the cost of living crisis -- while adding that the city should not take revenue generating measures, just because they are possible.
Another councilmember said they did not want the constant camera activation to deter those visiting from out of town, if they happen to get a hefty ticket driving through the area.
Other councilmembers spoke in support of the public safety element, wanting to further bolster the efforts made by the cameras.
A city court administrator expressed concerns to the council when asked if they're capable of handling the influx of citations from the cameras operating 24/7.
"Currently, we are not," she said before the council and the presenting group. "This would basically be increasing our yearly amount, in about 1 month, is what this equals, roughly."
It also prompted a discussion about the amount of hours it will take police to review and confirm each of the speeding infractions flagged by the cameras.
With each case taking roughly 1 minute to 1:15 seconds to review, one city administrator said it would take about 40 hours for officers to sort out the 19,000-plus infractions that were flagged during the two-week data collection period.
The Edmonds City Council will further discuss potential tweaks to fees and other elements of the proposal at a special meeting on August 18.
