Conduit for speed cameras is now built into all new road-construction projects in Pima County - even though plans for more cameras are on hold.
Is that efficient or sneaky?
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry says it's a money-saving thing.
"It may cost us, I don't know, $500 to pipe the entire intersection to run conduit now," he said, just throwing out rough numbers during an interview. "If we cut (the road) up and did it in traffic, it'd be $100,000."
The county probably won't have more than 10 or 12 camera sites, Huckelberry said. He backed off on a recent, unpopular plan to add cameras in northwest Pima County.
There are 10 sets of cameras now, but they may not always be at the current locations.
Once drivers get the message to slow down at current camera sites, maybe the county will pull them out and move them to other sites where speeders could be caught.
People are also reading…
The county is also installing little white boxes at the side of the road. They collect data about drivers, like how many there are, how fast they go and which lanes they use.
This is where the sneaky business comes in, because you can count on the data from those devices to be the selling point for future camera locations.
And since the camera installations won't require ripping up streets, setup crews can just run wires through the existing plastic piping. The cameras can go up quickly and at less expense to taxpayers - well, the ones who don't get speeding tickets, anyway.
DOWN THE ROAD
• Tonight - Halloween - is the deadliest night of the year for pedestrians, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Expect to see trick-or-treaters and partiers in the streets, so slow down in residential areas tonight.
• There are a couple of Arizona Department of Transportation projects on Interstate 19 this week that could cause delays.
Traffic will be down to one lane for parts of Wednesday and Thursday in the Rio Rico area for pavement maintenance and in the Arivaca area for bridge maintenance.
• Watch for nighttime lane closures on Interstate 10 between Eloy and Casa Grande through Thursday for ADOT paving work.
• ADOT is holding a public meeting in Tombstone Thursday to talk about the possible realignment of Arizona 80, which takes drivers into the city's historic district. If it happens, it'll be years or even decades from now, but this is the time to give input to ADOT.
ROAD Q
Kathy Shertz, a reader who is new to Arizona, asks whether the state's Move Over Law means drivers should change lanes for all vehicles with flashing lights or only for emergency vehicles.
A: The original law required drivers to move over for law-enforcement vehicles only, but the recent update to the law requires drivers to move over for any vehicle with emergency lights, said Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Carrick Cook.
That includes not only police cars, ambulances and firetrucks, but also tow trucks and road maintenance vehicles with flashing lights and any vehicle using hazard lights.
Send your Road Q questions by email to roadrunner@azstarnet.com or to 4850 S. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85714. Please include first and last names.
