D'Adamo said the cameras should help solve a long-standing problem of speeding drivers who endanger schoolchildren.
"Walther has been a speedway for the past 15 years," D'Adamo said. "The community has been trying to get this done." In recent years, he said, vehicles have even smashed through steel guardrails put up to protect the children.
"I hope it slows people down," he said, adding that anyone driving 47 mph or faster in a 35-mile-per-hour school zone "becomes a problem."
The city plans to modify red-light camera housings to also hold the speed cameras, which are expected to produce $7.1 million in revenue this fiscal year, said Kathy Chopper, another city transportation spokeswoman.
After much opposition to the cameras, the Baltimore County Council recently approved their use and is in the process of arranging for a supplier. "We expect to have a contract ready for the council's review by the end of next week," said Donald Mohler, county spokesman, adding it will be at least November before any camera is installed.
The legislation limited the cameras to "no more than 15 locations" in school zones, which police officials will select within the next two weeks. Each of the cameras, which the county plans to lease, would generate about $138,000 in revenue annually, officials said.
Prince George's County has legislation just starting to wend its way through the county council, and Annapolis officials are considering cameras, too.
Frederick City police Capt. Kevin Grubb said officials there want cameras to satisfy residents angry about speeders. "The citizens have been screaming about it [speeders] at every community meeting we attend," he said. A meeting is scheduled Oct. 7 to discuss the issue.
In Queen Anne's County, though, the county commission's Democratic chairman, George M. Ransom III, sees the cameras "as somewhat Orwellian in nature."
Under state law, the cameras can be placed within a half-mile of schools or in work zones, and $40 tickets will go to anyone traveling 12 mph or more over the posted limit. No points will be assessed, though, because the cameras can't tell who is driving. All areas monitored by speed cameras will be clearly marked with signs.
