Photo speed enforcement could start as early as this fall on Waugh Street in the Dalton High School speed zone and on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Roan School.
Signs warning of photo speed enforcement are already up on Waugh Street.
“The cameras are not in operation yet and we aren’t particularly close to these going live, apparently,” said city of Dalton Communications Director Bruce Frazier. “We do not have a set date when the cameras will be going active, maybe by the end of the month, but it just depends on when the company is able to get the work done.”
When the cameras do begin operation, there will be a 30-day grace period in which speeders get only a warning.
In February, City Council members approved a two-year contract with Blue Line Solutions, which provides speed enforcement cameras for cities and counties across the nation, to provide and maintain the enforcement system. That contract says the city will receive “65% of all paid Notices of Liability” and Blue Line Solutions’ “portion shall be 35% of all paid Notices of Liability.”
At that time, Police Chief Cliff Cason said he did not have enough officers to enforce the school zone speed limits “the way we would like to.”
“This will not run in the summertime,” he said. “It will not run during break periods from school, snow days or if we have some type of school cancellation. It does not run overnight.”
During a November 2023 meeting of the city Finance Committee, which consists of the City Council members, Ryan Moore, regional sales manager for Blue Line Solutions, said during a five-day period 16,510 vehicles came through the school zone at Roan School, and 2,316 were doing at least 11 miles over the speed limit.
He said under state law a vehicle must be doing at least 11 mph over the speed limit for automatic speed enforcement to issue a citation. He said the majority of speeding cars were doing at least 14 mph over the speed limit and 457 were doing at least 20 mph over the speed limit.
On Waugh Street, during that same five-day period, 31,493 vehicles passed through the Dalton High School school zone. Of those, 5,463 were doing at least 11 mph above the speed limit and 280 were doing at least 20 mph over the speed limit.
Cason said no citations will be issued unless they are reviewed and approved by police department personnel.