Kennedy Expressway, Illinois Tollway warn of photo-enforced speed limits, but no speed cameras are watching

Drivers passing through stretches of construction on the Tri-State Tollway are greeted by numerous work-zone road signs warning of reduced speed limits that are “photo enforced.”

Similar warnings that threaten camera enforcement for speeding can be seen on the Kennedy Expressway, which is in the midst of major construction work that began last year.

But there aren't any speed cameras in work zones on the Tri-State or the other toll roads overseen by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. And the Kennedy hasn't had any work-zone speed-enforcement cameras since construction began on the expressway early last year.

The Illinois Tollway used to have speed cameras, an agency spokeswoman says, but not for many years.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, which oversees the Kennedy and other expressways in Chicago and the suburbs, has had a work-zone camera program for two decades. But, despite the signs, there have been few if any speeding tickets issued through the devices on its highways for several years, the Chicago Sun-Times found.

For some of that time, the camera equipment wasn’t working properly, state officials say.

Also, there was a gap at times between contracts with the private vendors that help run the program with the Illinois State Police and IDOT which, like the tollways, ultimately are the responsibility of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

So work-zone cameras weren’t deployed on IDOT’s major Chicago-area highways — which also include the Dan Ryan, Eisenhower and Stevenson expressways — for more than a year.

Asked for a tally of work-zone speed-camera tickets since Jan. 1, 2021, in its two districts covering the region, the Illinois State Police says it couldn't find that any have been issued: “A reasonable search . . . was conducted by the Patrol and Investigative Records Section, and no responsive records were located during the time frame requested."

An IDOT spokeswoman says, “The last citations issued as part of the program were in 2020.”

She says the “photo enforced” signs are “required in all work zones where speed limits are reduced as part of legislation that passed in 2004 to allow photo enforcement along IDOT projects.”

The tollway spokeswoman says, “Work-zone enforcement on the tollway” is “done in coordination with the Illinois State Police and that photo-enforcement signage has been included as state laws require the signage to be present if photo vans are to be considered as possible enforcement tools.”

When the state police and “IDOT resume use of photo speed-enforcement vans, we will review their progress and determine if there are options for use on the tollway," she says.

The 2004 legislation says, “Signs indicating that speeds are enforced by automated traffic control systems must be clearly posted in the areas where the systems are in use.”

IDOT’s safety programs unit chief Juan Pava says, "We weren't trying to mislead the public."

Pava says catching speeders was never the aim.

“We’re not trying to give people tickets,” he says. “We want them to slow down. The goal of this program has been compliance and safety from the get-go.”

Between 2019 and 2023, nearly 150 people were killed in Illinois construction zones, six of them workers, according to IDOT and the state police, which say the signs and cameras get people to slow down.

IDOT’s program involves state troopers who park their “extremely conspicuous” vans in work zones. They’re outfitted with exterior speed displays for drivers to see — and slow down — and there’s special technology from a private vendor that captures speeds and images of those who continue to drive with a lead foot, with tickets later mailed out, officials say.

A company formerly known as Conduent State & Local Solutions, Inc., held the contract when problems surfaced that prevented ticketing, records show.

The cameras were generally “doing what they were supposed to do, but picture quality was not good enough to permit troopers to compare the picture of the driver with the picture associated with the vehicle registration, which is a legislative requirement,” state officials say. “That’s been resolved.”

Now part of a company called Modaxo, Conduent was the sole bidder for a new contract awarded last year for at least three years that will cost as much as about $1.1 million, with the company getting a cut of each citation. A subcontractor is Chicago’s SPAAN Tech, Inc., run by Smita Shah, a member of ComEd’s board.

Another change from the previous contract: “The technology has been improved, going from a radar to a LiDAR-based technology with improved cameras, as well as automating as many processes as possible,” state transportation officials say.

LiDAR stands for “light detection and ranging.”

“Radar is microwave-based, and LiDAR is laser-based,” officials say. “LiDAR is much more accurate and capable to collect data in multiple lanes at the same time.”

Last utilized by IDOT and the state police in October 2022, work-zone cameras are slowly making their way back onto state freeways. Their redeployment began this spring outside the Chicago area. The IDOT spokeswoman says, "We have gradually ramped up since then but have yet to start deployments in Cook and the collar counties.

“It’s very important to note that the vans and automated speed enforcement is one small piece to ensure laws are being followed in work zones. On most large projects, for example, IDOT builds in funding to pay for troopers to patrol work zones to enforce limits and other traffic laws.”

State highway officials say “motorists should be following posted speed limits with or without photo enforcement signs in the work zone.

“The No. 1 goal of the program always has been to get drivers to slow down and save lives, not generate citations or revenue.”

Officials say they can't estimate how much revenue has been lost over the years during which there haven't been cameras or they weren't working properly.

On the Kennedy, there can be 275,000 drivers a day.

Chicago has its own speed-camera program, but those cameras are relatively fixed — not mobile like the state’s initiative — and focused along streets not necessarily under construction. The city’s program resulted in at least $69 million in fines in 2023, records show.

The city has more than 160 speed cameras. The state’s program includes five vans “rotated” throughout the state’s highway system.

At the north end of DuSable Lake Shore Drive, several “photo enforced” work zone signs could be seen since more than a month ago. But there’s no record of tickets being issued there by the Chicago Police Department since at least 2021. Cty and state officials say there are no speed cameras in operation there.