Pima County picks locations for 10 permanent speed cam stations

Last month, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced the locations of the cameras, which will capture speeding violations for anyone exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph or more.

Since then, one of the locations in Green Valley has been removed from the list and a location on the South Side has been added. The current locations slated to get cameras are:

• East Valencia Road near South Wilmot Road

• East Ina Road near North Camino de Fosforo

• West Ruthrauff Road near West Calle Reina

• South Mission Road near West Nebraska Street

• North Swan Road near East Calle Barril

• West Valencia Road near South Camino de la Tierra

• South Alvernon Way near South Station Master Drive

• North La Cholla Boulevard near North Fountains Avenue

• East River Road near East Camino Boscaje Escondido

• South Nogales Highway and East Hermans Road

Once the cameras are operating, motorists will be given a seven-day grace period in which the stations will capture images but only warning notices will be issued to the vehicle’s registered owner. At the end of the seven days, citations will be issued to anyone who is caught.

The purpose of the cameras is to get motorists to slow down, Deputy Dawn Barkman, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, said Friday.

Between January 2007 and October 2008, there were more than 7,000 reported motor- vehicle crashes in unincorporated Pima County, Barkman said. Nearly half of those involved speeding motorists.

“Excessive speeding is a particular problem in the unincorporated areas of this community . . . as individual speeders not only injure or kill themselves, but also place other motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians at risk,” Barkman said in a news release.

Both the Tucson Police Department and the state Department of Public Safety already use photo speed enforcement.

Tucson police also utilize mobile radar vans, an option that may be considered in the county in the future, Barkman said.