BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) The New York State Thruway Authority is holding a public meeting Wednesday on installing speed cameras in work zones.
The pilot program is part of legislation signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul. The bill was co-sponsored by Senator Tim Kennedy (D-Buffalo), which he said was simply to get people to slow down in work zones.
The meeting will be held virtually and streamed live online from 4pm-6pm.
A link will appear 15 minutes before the meeting begins.
The state will soon install cameras in work zones that will monitor drivers' speed via photo devices.
"I voted in favor of this," said State Senator George Borrello (R-Chautauqua County)." This pilot program is going to help us. We've see other states that have implemented similar programs and have seen significant reductions in work zone accidents and fatalities. Unfortunately, it's a growing problem here in New York. In 2018, there were 701 work zone accidents, 329 injuries and
13 deaths, which was up significantly from previous years."
Borrello, however, is against any expanded use of the speed cameras by the Thruway Authority. "I think we all know with the new cashless tolling system that they have the ability, with the flip of a switch, to start monitoring peoples' speed. In my opinion, this should be narrowly focused on improving safety in work zones while our workers are there. I don't want to see it become some kind of a revenue source."
E-ZPass Cashless tolling has had its share of issues since its rollout. There have been errors, overcharges and other problems. What's Borrello's level of confidence that this can be implemented and run correctly by the Thruway Authority?
"I'm cautiously optimistic in this case," he said. "We have other states to look to that have implemented similar programs. The state of Maryland, for example, has done this and saw a significant decrease. I will carefully monitor how the Thruway Authority is handling this, ensuring that they don't make the same mistakes as they made with cashless tolling," said Borrello.
