Reducing work zone speeds and crashes is the goal of a pilot program that begins Monday in the I-95 Wilmington construction zone.
DelDOT and Delaware State Police are launching an electronic speed monitoring program in that work zone.
Two cameras will use radar to monitor vehicle speeds and take a license plate picture of those going too fast.
DelDOT spokesman C.R. McLeod says work on that section of I-95 is just over a year old and has been plagued by accidents.
“We’ve had 423 crashes in this construction zone in 2021, which was an increase of 49% over the same time period in the same area in 2019,” McLeod said.
McLeod notes most of the 2021 crashes were due to people going well above the 45-mile-per-hour work zone speed limit.
State lawmakers approved trying automated speed enforcement as a pilot program in this work zone only.
"At this time, we can only use these speed cameras in the I-95 construction zone and only for the duration of the I-95 project," said McLeod. "When the project is over, we’ll have to report back to the General Assembly with a report on the program and how it worked.”
Warnings will be issued during the first 30 days. After that, violators caught on camera will get a $20 ticket with an additional amount added for each mile per hour over the limit that they were traveling.
Tickets will be mailed. The violations are civil penalties with no points added to a drivers’ license.
