The controversial red-light cameras at Illinois Route 83 and 22nd Street in Oakbrook Terrace will be coming down.
Removal of the cameras for southbound Route 83 traffic and eastbound 22nd Street traffic, along with the removal of related signage, is the next step after the Third District Illinois Appellate Court denied the city’s motion Wednesday to stop enforcement of the judgment issued May 26 by DuPage County Judge Craig Belford that the lights must be removed.
Oakbrook Terrace has appealed Belford’s full ruling to the Appellate Court, but no ruling has been made yet.
“The cameras may be ordered reinstalled should the Appellate Court rule in the city’s favor on the full appeal of the issues,” said Oakbrook Terrace spokesperson Lissa Druss.
Greg Summers, the village manager of neighboring Oak Brook, said he was “thrilled” the motion that would have allowed the cameras to be reactivated, pending a final ruling on the appeal, was denied.
“Oakbrook Terrace has repeatedly stated that these cameras are all about safety, but today’s decision once again affirms Oak Brook’s data, which demonstrates a significant safety increase without these cameras,” Summers said. “This decision protects the motoring public from not only unnecessary fines, but also from the crashes that these red-light cameras create.”
Oak Brook Village President Larry Herman said he was pleased, but not surprised by the denial of Oakbrook Terrace’s request for a temporary halt.
“The facts demonstrate that the intersection of Route 83 and 22nd Street is safer with these cameras deactivated,” Herman said. “I hope that this decision finally and permanently ends this discussion.”
This was not the first time Oakbrook Terrace has asked for a delay of enforcement after being told in court that the lights must come down. The previous time, the stay was granted.
The May 26 ruling by Belford came about a year after Oakbrook Terrace was first ordered by the Illinois Department of Transportation to deactivate and then remove the cameras.
The May 2022 directive from IDOT to get rid of the cameras was met with a June 1, 2022 lawsuit filed by Oakbrook Terrace against the state agency. On Aug. 21. 2022, Belford issued an order allowing Oakbrook Terrace to reactivate the cameras pending a final disposition in the case.
There were multiple continuances granted in the case while Oakbrook Terrace and its red-light camera vendor, SafeSpeed, continued to generate revenue from violations.
Oakbrook Terrace collected more than $12 million in revenue from violations in just under five years of operating the red-light cameras. And leading up to IDOT’s directive to deactivate, SafeSpeed collected slightly more than $7.6 million for the approximately five years during which the cameras initially operated, according to information the village previously provided to Pioneer Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.
An additional total of just under $278,000 for the months of September, October and November 2022 was generated for Oakbrook Terrace from violations, after Belford’s ruling to allow the cameras to be reactivated, and money from fines has continued to be paid to the city, according to the FOIA information.
Oakbrook Terrace’s original lawsuit claimed it was issued a needed permit by IDOT for the installation of the red-light cameras, but that once the system was installed, IDOT had no authority to regulate operation.
Maria Castaneda, an IDOT public information officer, previously said the permit issued to Oakbrook Terrace to operate the traffic cameras was revoked because the city did not submit required post-installation analysis on the effectiveness of the camera system to improve safety at the intersection.
Further, Belford’s May 26 ruling indicated that he did not agree with Oakbrook Terrace’s take.
“(IDOT) issued a permit contingent upon the City’s preparation of certain post-installation evaluation reports,” the ruling reads. “In addition, (IDOT) reserved for itself the right to revoke the permit if any point of (IDOT’s) determines that revocation ‘is in the best interest of the motoring public of Illinois.’
“Here, the record clearly shows that the City did not comply with its post-installation reporting obligations and that, as a result (IDOT) determined that revocation of the City’s (red-light camera) permit was ‘in the best interest of the motoring public of Illinois.’ That determination fell squarely within (IDOT’s) discretion as defined in the permit itself, and nothing about that determination is clearly erroneous.”
Oak Brook Village Trustee Michael Manzo, who has continued to be outspoken against the red-light cameras since the beginning, said he as very glad Oakbrook Terrace’s request for a stay wasn’t granted this time.
“Having it granted last time allowed them to continue to generate revenue that, in my opinion, they never should have been getting,” Manzo said Thursday. “Kudos for the Appellate Court doing the right thing this time.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelancer.
