DOWNTOWN — The riskiest place to speed Downtown is near Jones College Prep, where two speed cameras have doled out more than $400,000 in fines since they were installed, city data shows.
Collectively, the eight Downtown speed cameras have slapped motorists with $818,635 in fines since January 2014, according to data provided by the Chicago Department of Transportation. Two cameras at 629 and 630 S. State St., near the Blue Ribbon school, sourced the bulk of the tickets with $444,105 in fines issued. At 629 S. State, that means 38 violations and $1,345.69 in fines per day.
The cameras near State and Harrison streets are on from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, longer than other Downtown cameras. However cameras are on longest — 6 a.m.-10 p.m. — at 319 E. Illinois St. and 449 and 450 N. Columbus Drive in Streeterville, which together have collected $328,880.
The camera ticketing the least is apparently at 18 W. Superior St. in River North, where only $4,240 in fines have been issued since May 2014. That camera, which has only issued 45 tickets, is on from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily.
Fines for violations are $35 for vehicles traveling 10 mph over the speed limit in a safety zone, and $100 for vehicles traveling 11 mph or more over the speed limit. The city has said it installed the cameras near schools and parks in 2013 in an effort to better protect pedestrians.
"Available data shows that speed cameras do achieve our goal of reducing speeding," a transportation department spokesman said.
Downtown cameras have flagged 22,570 speeders since they were installed, with nearly 58 percent of violators receiving just a warning with no fine.
Here's the rundown on all Downtown speed cameras from the time they were installed to the most recent period data was available:
•18 W. Superior St. (from May 2014 to March): $4,240 in fines issued
•19 W. Chicago Ave. (from Sept. 2014 to March): $22,960
•14 W. Chicago Ave. (from Sept. 2014 to March): $18,450
•449 N. Columbus Drive (from July 2014 to March): $68,125
•450 N. Columbus Drive (from July 2014 to April): $239,175
•319 E. Illinois St. (from May 2014 to March): $21,580
•629 S. State St. (from January 2014 to April): $339,115
•630 S. State St. (from January 2014 to April): $104,990
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
