HAMPTON, Va. — The city of Hampton is proposing the implementation of red light cameras along Mallory Street and Settlers Landing Road in an attempt to reduce congestion on residential streets that feed into I-64.
The proposal will be voted on by city council members during Wednesday night's meeting.
In April, the city decided to close the Mallory Street Bridge from 3-6 p.m. on weekdays to prevent drivers from cutting through Phoebus to avoid I-64 traffic.
Right now, a police officer monitors the closure. Hampton's Communications Director Mike Holtzclaw says putting a red light camera at the lane closure would free up city resources.
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"It's sort of a waste of police resources to have an officer just sitting at those spots for three hours," explained Holtzclaw. "So by installing the red light cameras, that would be able to enforce it and free the police officers up to do more important work. And it also saves the city money because you're not paying police officers to be sitting in those spots."
Shawnie, a Hampton Roads resident, was driving along Mallory Street this morning and says she supports the cameras.
"It will help," she said. "It will avoid a lot of the traffic, especially with all of the work they have going on down here."
If passed, the city would also put a red light camera on Settlers Landing Road. This is another area they say drivers have been using as a shortcut to avoid interstate traffic.
One Hampton University student says the increased traffic from drivers cutting through the area poses a safety hazard for students and is in support of the cameras.
"I kind of do wish they could just stick to the main roads," said Talahja, an undergraduate at HU. "It would be less traffic for us walking college students so I think it's needed."
According to the city, all photos taken by the cameras would be reviewed. Drivers who violate the lane closures would be mailed a fine of no more than $50. The violation would not be added to their driving record.
Holtzclaw says that the red light cameras would primarily monitor lane closures, rather than catch drivers running through lights.
"It wouldn't even be a matter of trying to catch people speeding through a light that had just turned red, it would be people going through a lane that is closed," he continued.
Hampton says the potential red light cameras at both Mallory Street and Settlers Landing would be taken down when the HRBT expansion project is complete.
