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To express support for the study and installation of photo speed monitoring devices in high-risk intersection segments, including the 600 and 700 blocks of South Belvidere Street and certain other locations, pursuant to Va. Code § 46.2-882.1 and through the City of Richmond’s Department of Police “Safety Camera Program” and to request that the Chief Administrative Officer consider identifying additional locations for the installation of photo speed monitoring devices and increasing the number of photo speed monitoring devices deployed by the City. (5th District)
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WHEREAS, through the Department of Police’s program known as the “Safety Camera Program,” managed by the Department of Police, the City has placed 15 cameras near schools operated by the School Board of the City of Richmond; and
WHEREAS, the City’s Vision Zero traffic safety program, which establishes how the city will eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030, included as one of its priorities the identification and evaluation of advanced tools and techniques to reduce speeding, such as automated speed enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the Safe and Healthy Streets Commission adopted a resolution dated October 16, 2024, expressing support for the use of photo speed enforcement cameras to enforce speed limits at high-risk intersection segments within the City of Richmond; and
WHEREAS, section 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, authorizes local law enforcement to use photo speed monitoring devices in any “high-risk intersection segment,” which means “any highway or portion thereof located not more than 1,000 feet from the limits of the property of a school that is part of or adjacent to an intersection containing a marked crosswalk that is identified in the manner provided in this section as one in which a traffic fatality has occurred since January 1, 2014;” and
WHEREAS, the property limits of Open High School, located at 600 South Pine Street, are less than 1,000 feet from the intersection of South Belvidere Street and Holly Street; and
WHEREAS, the 600 and 700 blocks of South Belvidere Street have six travel lanes and are adjacent to the intersection of South Belvidere Street and Holly Street which contains a marked crosswalk; and
WHEREAS, on September 18, 2021, a pedestrian was hit and killed crossing the southbound lanes of South Belvidere Street at its intersection with Holly Street; and
WHEREAS, on December 9, 2024, Councilmember Stephanie Lynch introduced Ordinance No. 2024-___ amending City Code section 27-132, concerning the use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones and school crossing zones and penalties to allow the City to install safety cameras, also known as “photo speed monitoring devices,” in eligible high-risk intersection segments pursuant to the authority set forth in section 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950); and
WHEREAS, the City currently deploys up to 26 photo speed monitoring devices throughout the city of Richmond pursuant to City Code section 27-132 and section 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950); and
WHEREAS, the Council believes that it is in the best interests of the residents of the city of Richmond that the Council support the study and installation of safety cameras in high-risk intersection segments, including the 600 and 700 blocks of South Belvidere Street and certain other locations, pursuant to section 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended; and
WHEREAS, the Council believes that it is in the best interests of the residents of the city of Richmond that the Council request that the Chief Administrative Officer consider identifying additional locations for the installation of photo speed monitoring devices and increasing the number of photo speed monitoring devices deployed by the City;
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND:
That the Council hereby supports the study and installation of photo speed monitoring devices in the 600 and 700 blocks of South Belvidere Street as a high-risk intersection segment and in other “high-risk intersection segments,” as established by section 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, located throughout the city of Richmond.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That the Council hereby requests that the Chief Administrative Officer consider identifying additional locations for the installation of photo speed monitoring devices and increasing the number of photo speed monitoring devices deployed by the City.