Traffic cams near Everett school go live in April; more on the way
Published 6:30 am Saturday, March 16, 2024
EVERETT — Bad drivers beware: Traffic cameras are coming to Everett over the next few months.
Beginning in April, traffic safety cameras will start to hand out violations in the Horizon Elementary school zone along Casino Road. Much like recently installed school zone cameras in Edmonds, violators within the first 30 days will be issued warnings.
After those 30 days, it’s a $124 ticket.
“Last spring, when school was in session, and the beacons were flashing, our vendors set up their equipment to see what the violation rate was (outside Horizon Elementary) and it was higher than anticipated,” Everett traffic engineer Corey Hert said. “Ninety-eight percent of all of the vehicles in the school zone were exceeding the posted statutory posted at 20 miles an hour, and 90% were at 25 (mph) or over.”
The system is only active when beacon lights are flashing. Those will run from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. and then 3:25 to 4:25 p.m. on normal school days. If schools have a late start or early release, the times the cameras are active will change too.
The notice of infraction is sent out within 14 days of the violation. The cameras take two images and a 12-second video of the violation. It only takes videos of violators, Hert said.
“That does two things,” he said. “It helps the officer determine whether the vehicle braked and realized, ‘Oh, that’s a school zone, I need to slow down.’ Then they can use their their judgment. The other thing it does is the video shows that the beacons are flashing.”
Hert said the reception by those who live in the neighborhood has been fairly positive.
City staff sent out 5,000 postcards to those who live in the area. Of those who responded, 63% gave positive responses about the school cameras. There have been six public meetings, Hert said last week, as well as materials distributed in English, Spanish and Russian.
The campaign is for a good reason — it’s been a dangerous past few years on the road.
“(Statewide) we’re at 10-year lows for overall crashes,” Hert said. “But injury and fatality crashes are at 10-year highs and Everett is seeing that same thing.”
The school zone near Horizon Elementary is not the only place cameras will be found. Over the summer, Everett is planning on turning on traffic safety cameras at six intersections.
They are:
• Broadway and 16th Street;
• Rucker Avenue and 41st Street;
• Evergreen Way and Casino Road;
• Evergreen Way and 4th Avenue W;
• Everett Mall Way and 7th Ave SE;
• Evergreen Way and 112th Street SW.
Between the beginning of 2015 to October 2021, those six intersections had a combined total of 69 T-bone crashes — crashes that are often the result of someone running a red light.
“There’s a few red-light runners out there. I don’t want to say there’s a lot,” Hert said. “But we have a crash history here.”
Everett Public Works spokesperson Kathleen Baxter said fine revenue can only be used for traffic safety improvements.
“That includes pay for the people who will make that happen, but also the actual cost of the materials and the labor to do it,” Baxter said.
The money in the traffic camera program will be used in part to pay for several positions, including a police officer for the program as well as a court administration staffer and a traffic engineer, Hert added. Everett has also received grants for the project through the Vision Zero safety program, a nationwide push to cut down on car crash fatalities.
“Enforcement is just one piece of this larger picture,” Hert said, “which is education and engineering and enforcement.”
Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jordyhansen.
