LEE COUNTY – The new speed cameras that the county installed in November are documenting what Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber said they would… and then some.
Weber said Tuesday that manpower could be the biggest hurdle facing the program that is currently generating more than 300 tickets a day, with projections hinting at up to 600 per day.
On Tuesday, Weber said he had about 500 tickets that staff still had to review and he had about 20 calls to make to people who had filed complaints about the tickets received.
"Seriously, this could be limited by the manpower we have to handle all the citations. Right now we're reviewing sometimes 300 tickets a day.
The county installed six cameras, three northbound and three southbound, on Hwy 27 in the fall and they went active in November with a warning period prior to ticketing taking place.
According to Iowa DOT statistics, there were 74 serious crashes or fatalities in Lee County from Jan. 2021 through February 2024 and 11 of those occurred on Hwy 27 (218). In five of those 11 involved fatalities.
Hwy. 27 to Donnellson had 54 serious crashes in the same time frame involving 106 occupants, one fatality, and one serious injury. In 2023 alone, the stretch of Highway 27 and 218 from the Missouri border to the Henry County border had 90 accidents, five serious including two fatalities.
Weber said those numbers show the need to slow traffic down especially on one of two main 4-ways through the county. The county is also engaged in special traffic enforcement on Hwy 2 in the county.
“In everyone’s mind, they think they can go over the speed limit and get away with it. This is 5,000 to 6,000 violations already and that’s for 11 mph and over. We start at 11. You don’t even get a ticket until it’s 76.
Chief Deputy Will Conlee said the SiteStream representative told him based on current data trends, the department could be looking at up to 600 citations per day at its peak. He said data showed close to 500,000 cars passing the cameras in one week. He said pictures are taken of the back of vehicles after they pass the camera systems because some states don’t require front plates. But with the signage warning motorists, coupled with the radar working after they pass the signs, the volume of citations is still high.
Conlee also said the equipment hasn’t fully been functional for most of the time, and there were times when only half the cameras were working at any given time due to the volume of traffic.
Weber looked up a log of violations on his computer and had speeds regularly in excess of 80 mph. He said when they first started the cameras, he saw a bunch in the 80s and now he’s starting to see that settle in at about 78.
“It’s incredible,” Weber said. “The cameras do what we can’t do. They monitor everything 24/7 and they catch everybody that goes through there speeding. Many get caught on all three cameras but the system doesn’t issue three tickets, just one.
"I get criticism from people about not spending more time on our county roads. This lets us do more of that. The signs are up, the cameras are up, and people are getting tickets. The people who live out on the highway are telling us it’s different now.”
He said people who have phone apps on are being warned by the apps, and the county is still seeing the volume it is. Weber said it’s his hope that people start to realize the cameras are there and slow down.
The county gets 80% of the fines issued by SiteStream, LLC through the camera system and that has totaled close to $55,000 to date.
Weber has been consistent about saying it isn’t about the funding coming in.
“I’d like it to be 0,” he said. “But we were saying that people were speeding through this county and this just shows that’s what’s happening.”
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