Find out where Wilmington plans to install new red-light cameras

The city of Wilmington on Tuesday announced the locations of 16 new red-light cameras.

Six existing cameras will be removed "due to improved safety numbers," according to a city news release. 

The other 28 existing cameras will continue to be used. 

The new cameras take four to six months to install, and the first will be active starting in June, according to the city.

The city will have a total of 44 red-light cameras at 42 intersections when the changes are complete.

The city announced its intention to remove seven and install 17 new red-light cameras last year, estimating it would cost $200,000 and bring in about $1.5 million in fines in the first six months of implementation.

The sites were submitted to the Delaware Department of Transportation for approval last month using the agency's crash numbers and Wilmington Police Department collision data.

In its request, the city asked for two cameras at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Market Street, according to a letter obtained through a public records request. According to Tuesday's announcement, only one camera will be installed at that intersection.

The city hoped to remove seven cameras, but its request to remove a camera at West 12th Street and North Washington Street was not approved.

A state law passed in 2016 requires municipalities to have a safety-based reason to install red-light cameras in a given location.

A 2017 DelDOT report found six Wilmington intersections with red-light camera monitoring that recorded no crashes related to drivers running red lights from 2011 to 2015. 

Of those, only two are being removed this year.

That report also found four intersections in the same time period with no cameras that had 24 or more red-light-related crashes. 

The highest number of crashes, 54, occurred where Walnut and Front streets meet. 

The three intersections with the next highest numbers of crashes were included on a list of potential sites for new cameras that DelDOT prepared for the city last year. Those will all be getting a new camera this year. 

They are Walnut and 11th streets, Adams and 11th streets and Jackson and 10th streets. 

The least dangerous site, according to DelDOT's analysis, that will get a new red-light camera this year is the intersection of Delaware Avenue, 11th Street and Washington Street, which had five red-light-related crashes from 2011 to 2015. 

Ken Grant of AAA, which pushed for the law that required safety justifications for red-light cameras, said it's a "step in the right direction" that the city had to ask DelDOT for approval using crash data. In the past, he said, red-light cameras in Wilmington were treated only as a revenue tool.

"We are trusting with DelDOT's approval that these are all intersections that have proven to be dangerous," he said.

Wilmington red-light cameras

Existing cameras that will continue to be used:

Pennsylvania Avenue westbound at N. Lincoln Street
Lancaster Avenue eastbound at S. Cleveland Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue eastbound at N. Franklin Street
Fourth Street westbound at N. Adams Street
Fourth Street westbound at N. Washington Street
Lancaster Avenue westbound at S. Cleveland Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue eastbound at Woodlawn Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue westbound at Woodlawn Avenue
Lancaster Avenue eastbound at Lincoln Street
11th Street eastbound at N. Church Street
S. Union Street northbound at Prospect Road
S. Union Street southbound at Maple Street
Fourth Street westbound at Scott Street
Concord Avenue northbound at N. Broom Street
Concord Avenue southbound at N. Broom Street
Lancaster Avenue eastbound at Jackson Street
U.S. 13A southbound at Christiana Avenue
Maryland Avenue eastbound at Seventh Avenue
N. King Street southbound at E. Fourth Street
W. 4th Street eastbound at N. Orange Street
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard westbound at West Street
S. Walnut Street northbound at E. Second Street
Pennsylvania Avenue eastbound at N. Van Buren Street
Delaware Avenue westbound at N. Van Buren Street
W. 2nd Street westbound at N. Adams Street
S. Walnut Street northbound at A Street
N. Walnut Street northbound at E. Eighth Street
W. 12th Street northbound at Washington Street
 
Existing cameras that will be removed:

S. Heald Street southbound at D Street
N. Lincoln Street northbound at Ninth Street
Concord Avenue southbound at N. Market Street
30th Street westbound at N. Market Street
Lancaster Avenue eastbound at DuPont Street
N. Union Street southbound at W. Fourth Street
 
New cameras:

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Market Street
N. Walnut Street at E. 11th Street
Del. 52 (Delaware Ave.) at N. Jackson Street
N. Jackson Street at W. 10th Street
N. Walnut Street at E. 4th Street
N. Adams Street at 11th Street /1-95 SB off-ramp
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Madison Street / Del. 4 (Maryland Ave)
Fourth Street at Jackson Street /1-95 SB off-ramp
N. Adams Street at Ninth Street /1-95 NB off-ramp
W. Second Street at N. Jackson Street
W. Second Street at N. Broom Street
Delaware Avenue / W. 11th Street at N. Washington Street
N. Lincoln Street at W. Second Street
W. Fourth Street at N. Lincoln Street
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Monroe Street
N. Union Street at W. Second Street

Christina Jedra contributed reporting. Contact Jeanne Kuang at jkuang@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2476. Follow her on Twitter at @JeanneKuang.

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