New Highway Speed Camera Language Nixed From CT Transportation Bill

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on CTNewsJunkie.com and is used here with permission. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Regan includes local context.

HARTFORD, CT – The Connecticut legislature has removed a section of a transportation bill that would have allowed the state Department of Transportation to operate automated speed cameras on limited-access highways.

An amendment to House Bill 5464, An Act Implementing Recommendations From the Department of Transportation, removed section 15 of the bill on April 29 in a House vote. The amended bill then passed the House 99-51 mostly along party lines. It now awaits action in the Senate.

Section 15 would have allowed the DOT to implement a pilot program featuring automated traffic devices on highways with a history of excessive speeding or bad accidents, after working with the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to pick the specific locations.

State Rep. Devin Carney, R-Old Saybrook, who also represents Lyme, Old Lyme and portions of Westbrook, remains opposed to the provision that would have established the pilot program. He said he voted against the amended bill due to an unrelated section changing the timeline for the DOT to give notice and clear encampments for unhoused people.

The bill addresses a range of transportation issues from distracted driving and rider safety to school bus alternative fuels and highway vegetation management.

The DOT already operates speed cameras in some work zones, after a successful pilot program approved in 2023 for three cameras. The agency is now expanding that program, with 15 cameras in total. Drivers who speed in work zones should expect to get ticketed automatically starting in June, DOT officials have said.

The department also oversees and approves all municipalities wanting to install automated speed or red-light cameras. So far, 15 municipalities in Connecticut have been approved for the cameras, including Middletown, Milford, New Haven, Stamford, West Hartford and Wethersfield.

Hartford and New Britain have also submitted plans that are awaiting approval by the state. East Lyme passed a local ordinance to allow speed cameras earlier this year and is in the process of seeking approval. Officials with the Old Lyme Road and Public Safety Committee are exploring the concept.  

Read the original report at CT News Junkie.