Council Green Lights Extension For Red Light Cameras

Creve Coeur City Administrator Mark Perkins confirmed to Patch that the City Council has signed off on an extension of Creve Coeur's existing contract with American Traffic Solutions, while staff examines which provider to work with going forward.

The current contract with ATS would have expired next month but will now run through the remainder of 2013.

Perkins said ATS is one of five bids being considered and that the city is essentially looking for service along the lines of what has been in place since 2007.

While Creve Coeur's system has been challenged in court, it has to date survived the legal system, unlike others in the St. Louis region.

According to an analysis prepared last fall, there have been no fatalities at the intersections since the cameras were deployed. Sideswipes and lane changes have increased at Olive and 270, while red light running crashes at that intersection have averaged 1 per year since cameras were installed.

The cameras are located at Ladue Road & Couer De Ville and Ladue & Emerson, Olive Boulevard and Interstate 270, and Olive Boulevard at North New Ballas Rd.

City officials said last year they wanted to work to improve collection rates on tickets, which may have been lower given the fact that at the time there were still questions about the legality of the city's camera program.

Perkins said a decision on moving forward with a winning bidder could come within the next two months.