The Iowa Department of Transportation is standing behind its ruling that limited the use of traffic cameras in several large Iowa cities. The DOT adopted new rules in late 2013 to limit local governments’ ability to install traffic cameras on or near highways. Those rules required cities to demonstrate that cameras were needed to address “critical safety issues,” which could not be resolved by other means. Studies have produced conflicting data on whether cameras reduce red light or speeding infractions or vehicle accidents.

In March of this year, DOT officials ordered officials in six cities to shut off ten out of 34 traffic cameras cities had defended on safety grounds. The city of Davenport opted to comply with the DOT ruling, but five other cities asked department officials to reconsider the decision. (Although a reversal was unlikely, exhausting administrative appeals typically precedes legal action challenging a state agency’s decision.)

This week, DOT Director Paul Trombino notified city officials in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, and Muscatine that the department was rejecting their appeals, because data did not demonstrate that the disputed cameras had improved safety or reduced crashes. Click through to read copies of the letters. The fifth city to appeal, Sioux City, filed a lawsuit last year challenging the DOT rules. A Woodbury County District Court is scheduled to hear that case soon. Des Moines officials plan to challenge the DOT in court as well. Cedar Rapids officials have not yet decided whether to file a lawsuit. After the jump I’ve enclosed excerpts from Kathy Bolten’s report for the Des Moines Register and Rick Smith’s for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Local governments are generally responsible for enforcing traffic laws. I’ll be interested to see whether Iowa courts back up the DOT’s efforts to restrict those powers on or near major highways. According to Trombino, the Iowa Code allows the DOT to enforce limits on cameras for traffic enforcement. Whatever the courts decide, the state’s multi-pronged assault on local control remains an under-reported story of Governor Terry Branstad’s fifth and sixth terms.

From Kathy Bolten’s May 12 report  for the Des Moines Register:

Iowa is the only state in the United States that has permanent speed enforcement cameras on its interstate highways, according to the DOT, which in late 2013 adopted new rules governing the use of the devices on or next to state highways. […]

In its appeal of the DOT’s original decision to turn off the I-235 speed enforcement cameras, Des Moines officials argued that that stretch of highway has had a 37 percent reduction in crashes since the cameras became operational.

In addition, officials argued that it was unsafe for police officers to enforce the speed limit in that area and that the DOT did not have legal authority to implement the rules overseeing the cameras that had been adopted or regulate the use or placement of the devices.

DOT officials disagreed.

Regarding the safety of police officers who enforce speed laws on highways, Trombino wrote: “To say we cannot safely manage interstate speed limits in Iowa without automated speed cameras is not only incorrect, but it also limits our ability to solve problems as we strive to serve Iowans.”

Trombino suggested an officer stand on a bridge spanning the interstate with a radar device. The officer could relay information about speeders to other officers positioned further east, he wrote.

From Rick Smith’s May 12 story for the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

The city’s “resolve is strong” to keep the cameras in place, [Mayor Ron] Corbett said, but the city will need to look at the cost to take the DOT to court and to consider how long it may take to get a resolution.

“Personally, I’m probably leaning toward challenging the DOT,” he said. “But having this thing tied up in the court system for two or three years isn’t anything from a decision-making standpoint that any of us take lightly.” […]

The city does have the option to comply with last month’s DOT order, which called for the city to take down cameras from two spots near the S-curve on I-380 through downtown and move them from two other spots so they are closer to the S-curve.

The DOT’s [director of traffic and safety Steve] Gent said the Cedar Rapids cameras would be the only permanent ones on an interstate in Iowa or the nation.

Casey Drew, the city’s finance director, said Tuesday that the city likely would lose $2.2 million of the $3 million in net revenue it takes in from enforcement cameras if it complies with the DOT decision.