Heads up: Beltway will get speed cameras
Friday - 6/10/2011, 10:33am ET
Michelle Basch, wtop.com
TAKOMA PARK, Md. - Speed cameras will be posted on the Capital Beltway for the first time as part of a new long-term work zone along a congested stretch of the traffic loop.
Major repairs need to be made to a bridge on the topside of the Beltway between University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue.
"It's going to be a very challenging work zone, very tight for drivers," says Valerie Edgar, spokeswoman for the Maryland State Highway Adminstration.
The work zone is being set up now, and within weeks, mobile speed cameras will appear.
Exactly when speed camera enforcement will begin has not yet been announced, but once it does, there will be a three-week warning period before any $40 tickets are issued.
Edgar says there will be plenty of signs warning drivers about the cameras before they reach the zone. Additionally, SHA will set up a "speed trailer" that will show drivers how fast they're going.
The speed limit in that area will remain at 55 mph.
"A driver would have to be going 12 or more miles over the speed limit to get the ticket," Edgar says.
The work zone and speed cameras will stay in place for quite a while. The bridge repairs are expected to take several years.
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(Copyright 2011 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
