California Bill Calls for Cameras in Construction Zones
By: Tina Li
Source: The Sacramento Bee (TNS)
While replacing a pavement panel on Pomona’s Interstate 10 in 2021, Ricardo Alarcon witnessed a car run over two of his coworkers. The driver had somehow blown past their construction trucks, warning signs, and a line of bright orange cones.
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Alarcon, who’s been working in highway construction since 2012 and now serves as a traffic control supervisor in Irvine, has four children. Sometimes when he calls them while on break, they’ll see how fast the cars are going around him. “It worries them every day, because they never know if it’s gonna be that phone call,” he said.
A bill moving through the California Senate would allow Caltrans to install up to 75 automated speed enforcement cameras in active construction zones across the state. SB 289, introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney, aims to improve worker safety in a field where even bright orange cones, flashing lights and police patrols can’t always protect workers.
A news release from Haney’s office states that in 2021 alone, there were 9,500 crashes in California work zones, resulting in nearly 3,000 injuries and 73 deaths.
According to Alarcon, cars often speed by him at “70, 80, 90 miles an hour.” Why? “People want to get to where they want to get to, as fast as possible,” he said.
In this video, Ajax Paving safety director Mandy Kustra outlines safe paving practices for not only the job site, but also the machines doing the work.
Brandt Maurice, paving manager at Bay Area construction company Ghilotti Bros. and 25-year veteran of highway construction, compares the work to riding a bike. Not because it’s easy, as the adage goes, but because, no matter the precautions you take, you can still get hurt.
When Maurice arrives at a job, the first thing he does is look for ways to bolster safety: putting up another set of cones, another sign or strategically placing a truck between work zones and traffic. On Monday night, he drove out to check on his team working on Highway 99 to make sure everything was safe before returning home—a routine he’s picked up to give himself “peace of mind.”
California Highway Patrol cars also join construction workers on the freeway, but they’re primarily there to assist with any accidents and injuries—and, ideally, to deter speedsters, though that doesn’t always work. “They’re going to slow down for him, and then once they get past him, they’re off to the races, you know,” Maurice said about the police cars.
The traffic arrow boards workers put out are “self-explanatory” and visible for over half a mile, Maurice said. If drivers stick to the speed limit, they get “plenty of warning.” But oftentimes, people wait until the last minute to heed the signs, trying to see how far they can get before having to merge into traffic.
“The scary part of it is, you know, you don’t have a chance,” Maurice said. Once, a driver struck a cone “four feet away” from him, sending it flying over his head. Other times, he’s seen coworkers get their toes run over by passing cars.
Chris Lee, a lobbyist at Politico Group representing United Contractors before the state legislature, pointed to evidence that speed enforcement cameras on active construction sites reduce speed and reduce collisions and deaths in states such as Maryland and Pennsylvania. In March, San Francisco also implemented speeding enforcement cameras across the city, though it’s too early to observe any shifts in driver behavior.
The cameras would be rolled out following a public education campaign to explain the program, and would be accompanied by plenty of warning signage on the road, Lee said. During a 60 day pilot period, offenders would only receive warnings not an actual citation. After that, drivers will have the right to appeal any citations they find unjust. “The goal is not to give tickets, right? It’s to get drivers to slow down.”
The fines are proposed to be tiered depending on a driver’s income level and the violation’s severity—ranging from $50 for driving 11-15 mph over the limit to $500 for speeds of 100 mph or greater.
The bill will soon be referred to policy committees before heading to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the full Senate floor, and then to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. If he signs, it will take effect Jan. 1, 2026. Lee estimates that drivers could start seeing these cameras by active construction sites later in the year.
Under the current bill, Caltrans would be authorized to install up to 75 cameras on active construction sites throughout the state. The financial scope of the initiative won’t become clearer until the appropriations committee reviews the bill in August, Lee said, but he believes the program is feasible with support from the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program and other funding sources.
With the bill’s privacy provisions, the cameras will only capture photos of the back of vehicles and angled away from pedestrians. Caltrans will not publicly disclose images and will delete them after 5 days if no violation is determined and 120 days if so.
“These cameras (will be) out here not to hurt the people’s pockets, but to give us a chance to get home safe,” Alarcon said.
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