The 2007 Oregon legislative assembly passed House Bill 2466, allowing the Oregon Department of Transportation to use photo radar in ODOT work zones on non-interstate state highways and required ODOT to report back to them on the safety impacts of this enforcement action. This research project examined the impact of photo radar speed enforcement on traffic speed through an active highway work zone. The project also examined the speed data in an attempt to find speed impacts that persisted following the photo radar enforcement periods. During photo radar enforcement periods, speeding was reduced by an average 27.3% at the traffic sensor site within the work zone. The observed speeding reduction was temporary and did not persist beyond the departure of the photo radar enforcement van. (Author/publisher)
Abstract