Possible Speed Camera Location Presented To Falls Church Council

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Use of a speed camera in a school zone could be considered in the City of Falls Church. Police Chief Mary Gavin gave a presentation to Falls Church City Council Monday on a potential speed camera program.

Localities gained authority to use speed monitoring cameras in school zones and highway work zones under 2020 Virginia legislation. The legislation defines school zones as areas within 600 feet of a school as shown by signage. Eligible work zones must be on a highway with posted signage.

In the city, only school zone speed cameras can be considered, as its work zones do not meet the state legislation requirements. After a speed study and traffic count in the city's school zones, the location being proposed is the 800 block of W. Broad Street, which is the location of St. James Catholic School. Gavin said the location is the only one in the city that would meet state legislation criteria, provide the topography to capture evidence of speeding vehicles, and allows smart engineering and smart enforcement.

A memo to City Council also notes that W. Broad Street has a high volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, presenting a risk to the school and general population. The posted speed limit on W. Broad Street is 25 mph.

The state legislation states a driver traveling at speeds 10 or more above the highway work zone or school crossing zone speed limit by a monitoring device could get a civil penalty up to $100. City staff recommended a $50 fine for speeding 11 to 19 miles over the posted speed limit and $100 for speeds 20 mph or more over the speed limit.

If the program moves forward, citations would only be given during the school day when students are present, according to the memo. As the state legislation requires signage to warn drivers, signage would be put within 1,000 feet of the 800 block of W. Broad Street.

Gavin noted police's red light camera enforcement program has produced about 2,100 violations per year based on 2021 numbers. Enforcement of passing stopped school buses has resulted in about 812 violations per year. With the possible addition of a speed camera, Gavin estimated the speed camera enforcement would result in 10,800 violations per year. The police chief said non-controllable factors may result in a percentage of violations being taken off, such as weather, traffic or a license plate not being completely visible.

"This is a good option. I think it gives us an opportunity to expand our program with legitimacy rather than trying to do too much at once and not being able to responsibly take on another location at this time," said Gavin. "And at the same time...we have other studies out there for additional red lights [cameras]."

Two speed cameras capturing violations in the eastbound and westbound direction on W. Broad Street would cost $8,000 a month for equipment, installation, maintenance, and repairs, per the city's photo enforcement vendor. On the personnel side, the police chief expressed a concern about the workload for police officers. For the red light enforcement program, officers typically review violations on the cameras during down times, typically hours around midnight.

"It's something that we feel as if that can be done, but our initial cost of workload is something that we're just not very sure on in terms of how the workload will be spread out," said Gavin about the potential speed camera program.

The police chief's presentation was not a consideration item for City Council at Monday's meeting. If City Council moves forward with the speed camera program, the police department estimates it could be in place for the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

City Council recently took another action designed to address road safety. In November, City Council approved 20 mph speed limits on local residential streets, which don't include arterial roads like Broad Street and Washington Street or collector streets like West Street, Lincoln Avenue, Great Falls Street and Park Avenue. Changes to signage could be implemented during spring 2023.

Neighboring Fairfax County approved its own speed camera program last week to launch in early 2023 in some school zones and one highway work zone.