The city of Windsor Heights will take the Iowa Department of Transportation to court over the denial of a request to place speed enforcement traffic cameras on Interstate 235.

I-235 runs through Windsor Heights for about a mile between the 63rd Street and 73rd Street exits. Since the fall of 2011, city officials have been pursuing “a fixed automated speed enforcement system on westbound Interstate 235.” Heading east on I-235, there is an auxiliary lane giving traffic plenty of time to merge from the 73rd St ramp onto the freeway. In contrast, westbound traffic entering at 63rd St has less space and time to merge into other lanes. A city analysis of vehicle crash data and calls for service between 2001 and 2010 showed many problems along that stretch of I-235. As a Windsor Heights resident who regularly enters and exits I-235 at 73rd Street or 63rd Street, I have seen many near-collisions on that road.

In July 2012, the city of Windsor Heights formally requested that the Iowa Department of Transportation approve fixed speed enforcement cameras on westbound I-235 between 63rd Street and 73rd Street. You can view the the full justification report here (pdf) and the supporting safety data here.

In August, an official for the Iowa Department of Transportation rejected Windsor Heights’ request.

“After further reviewing the situation we feel there may be other options which should be considered or implemented prior to considering automated enforcement. Some of these options include ramp metering on the 63rd Street westbound entrance ramp and real-time overhead speed displays on I-235. We also plan to have further discussions with the Iowa State Patrol regarding increased presence in the area.”

The report also says, “The new auxiliary lane which will be constructed next year will reduce conflicts and crashes in the area. We have reviewed the contract documents for this project and have decided to include a full width (12 ft.) outside shoulder on this project (current plan specifies only a 6 ft. shoulder). This change will improve safety for motorist[s] and provide a safer area for vehicles on the shoulder.”

[Windsor Heights Police Chief Dennis] McDaniel said in response: “While we appreciate the DOT’s willingness to make the westbound auxiliary lane a top priority for 2013, and the addition of a full width outside shoulder is certainly good news, the city’s position from the beginning in addressing this dangerous stretch of roadway is a well-rounded approach that focuses not only on re-engineering but also on public education and proactive enforcement.”

Further communication between city and state officials continued, culminating in an October 5 letter from Iowa DOT Director Paul Trombino, which served as the final agency word on the matter. The Windsor Heights City Council voted last week to pursue legal action. City Police Chief McDaniel provided a copy of Trombino’s four-page letter to Bleeding Heartland. Here are some relevant excerpts:

Iowa DOT takes a comprehensive approach to issues involving traffic safety and that comprehensive approach is the basis for DOT’s June 2012 Primary Highway System Automated Enforcement Guidelines. See, p.1, par/4 of the guidelines (“Seldom should an automated enforcement system be used as a long-term solution for speeding or red-light running. Instead, a traffic safety plan should be developed that includes solutions such as infrastructure improvements, use of innovative traffic control systems, alternative enforcement approaches and public education, which can eliminate the need for automated enforcement.”).

My further review of the materials submitted by the City indicates that it did not take such an approach in its analysis of the specific traffic safety issue involved in this matter. It focused only on one safety solution; the use of automated speed cameras. […]

In addition, some of the important data contained in the July 2012 Justification Report is speculative, overbroad and anecdotal. […]

Interstate 235 in Windsor Heights is not part of the municipal street system of Windsor Heights (See, Iowa Code 306.3(5)), nor is it a municipal extension of a primary road such that it would be under concurrent jurisdiction pursuant to Iowa Code 306.4(4)(a). It is clearly a primary road under the jurisdiction and control of the Iowa DOT, pursuant to Iowa Code 306.4(1). […]

Since the start of my tenure as DOT Director, no requests to install automated speed cameras on state property located on the primary road system or its right-of-way have been granted. This may constitute a change in the past practice of the DOT. Agencies may change course with a change in administration. […]

DOT is in charge of the primary road system. DOT prefers engineering and enforcement solutions over automated traffic enforcement when it comes to solving primary road safety issues. […]

DOT is legally authorized (and obligated) to control and regulate this portion of I-235 contained in the primary road  system and the right-of-way of that system. The City is not so authorized. The City is, however, free to propose and recommend solutions to any and all problems it may identify on I-235 within its city limits. The DOT welcomes that input (it is an essential part of cooperative government) and may act upon some, all or none of it. But it is not legally obligated to do so.

I am not an attorney, but it looks to me like the DOT is on solid ground to deny Windsor Heights’ request. One may not agree with Trombino on whether other engineering and enforcement approaches will make that stretch of I-235 safe enough, but the DOT director appears to have the final word on the matter.

The city of Windsor Heights has a window of 30 days from October 5 to file its lawsuit. Presumably a court will not consider the case until sometime next year. By that time there’s a chance Iowa lawmakers will have settled the matter through legislation banning traffic cameras statewide. In April of this year, the Iowa House approved a bill prohibiting local governments from using “automated traffic law enforcement systems” by an unusual bipartisan vote. The bill didn’t go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Iowa Senate, where Transportation Committee Chair Tom Rielly, a former mayor of Oskaloosa, “said he viewed the issue as a local decision for communities seeking to improve the safety of their roadways and intersections.” A last-ditch Senate Republican maneuver failed to add the language on traffic cameras to an appropriations bill.

If Republicans win a majority of Senate seats this fall, I expect State Senator Brad Zaun to make sure a traffic camera ban gets through the chamber. The number two man in the GOP caucus, Zaun has been public enemy number one of traffic cameras ever since he got fined for his son’s speeding violation in Cedar Rapids.