Oakbrook Terrace is pointing fingers at the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Village of Oak Brook after being notified by IDOT that the red-light cameras at Route 83 and 22nd Street in the city must come down.
IDOT sent a letter to Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Paul Esposito earlier this month with the notification. Oakbrook Terrace sent a new release out Thursday night May 12 about the notification and a response to it.
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An IDOT spokesperson said that after review, the IDOT permit issued to operate the red-light cameras is revoked due to failure to comply. Despite repeated requests from IDOT, Oakbrook Terrace did not submit the post-installation analysis on the effectiveness of the camera system to improve safety at the intersection, as required by IDOT policy, the spokesperson said.
The Oakbrook Terrace news release stated that city has not yet filed the three-year evaluation report because IDOT has not compiled the 2021 crash data for the intersection.
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“Without the crash data from the Illinois Department of Transportation, the city cannot perform the analysis of the data necessary to prepare the report,” the release stated. “The city believes this to be the first time that the Illinois Department of Transportation has revoked a Highway Permit issued for an automated traffic law enforcement system due to its own inaction.”
However, IDOT had a different take, stating that the notification sent to Esposito, revoking the permit, spells out the time frames in which IDOT requested data and the attempts to communicate with the city.
“It’s important to note that IDOT relies on municipalities to submit crash data collected by their local law enforcement agencies,” said Guy Tridgell, IDOT’s director of communications. “The department is not producing the data, but compiling it from law enforcement for analysis and possible program or project solutions if safety issues and concerns are revealed. The data that the city is requesting from IDOT would come from (Oakbrook Terrace) or, in this case, (Oakbrook Terrace) and neighboring Oak Brook.”
The release from Oakbrook Terrace also stated that on average, pre COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 200,000 motor vehicles passed through the intersection yearly. The red-light cameras became operational in August 2017, a year in which 33 crashes took place at the intersection.
The intersection has been the scene of over 233,000 violations of the Illinois Vehicle Code since the system was installed. Esposito did not respond to an email, asking how much revenue has been generated from these violations.
The Oakbrook Terrace release stated that the intersection also has been the scene of 39 motor vehicle crashes in 2018 and 31 motor vehicle crashes in 2019.
“Even with decreased traffic due to the pandemic, 17 motor vehicle crashes occurred at the intersection in 2020, the last year for which the Illinois Department of Transportation has compiled crash data,” the release states.
“Despite these statistics, the Village of Oak Brook has been a vocal proponent for the removal the automated traffic law enforcement system at the intersection due to its location near the Oak Brook Shopping Mall. Consequently, the City of Oakbrook Terrace believes this to be a tragic example of the profits of the Oak Brook Shopping Mall taking precedence over the safety of the motoring public.”
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Oak Brook Village Manager Greg Summers said that while Oakbrook Terrace cites public safety as the rationale for the cameras, the actual fact is that public safety was dependent upon the removal of these cameras”
“Actual traffic accident data demonstrates that the result has been a 173% increase in rear end crashes since the installation of these red light cameras in 2017,” Summer said. “The Village of Oak Brook has demanded revocation of this red light camera permit since inception because these cameras were installed solely as a result of corruption, which resulted in the City of Oakbrook Terrace never completing a proper safety study to support their installation.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
