The wait continues on a judge’s decision on whether the red-light cameras at Route 83 and 22nd Street in Oakbrook Terrace will be allowed to remain activated or be removed.
After being ordered by the Illinois Department of Transportation in May 2022 to deactivate, and then remove, the cameras, Oakbrook Terrace filed a lawsuit June 1, 2022, claiming IDOT overstepped its authority with its removal directive for the cameras used for southbound traffic on Route 83 and eastbound traffic on 22nd Street, just outside of Oakbrook Center.
Oakbrook Terrace claimed it was issued a needed permit by IDOT for the installation of the red-light cameras, but that once the system was installed, IDOT has no authority to regulate operation.
DuPage County Judge Craig Belford issued an order Aug. 21, 2022, allowing Oakbrook Terrace to reactivate the cameras, pending a final disposition in the case.
A continuance was issued in October and another in November, the latter of which was until May 8. The scheduled May 8 court date was continued in March to June 5 after the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, on behalf of the Illinois Department of Transportation, filed a motion for an extension of time and Oakbrook Terrace did not oppose the extension, said Maria Castaneda, communications manager and public information officer for IDOT.
When asked why another continuance was sought, Jamey Dunn-Thomason, press secretary for the Office of Attorney General Kwame Raoul, said the office does not comment on ongoing litigation.
While the lawsuit is between Oakbrook Terrace and the state, Oak Brook officials are not happy about the delay in proceedings. Oak Brook filed a lawsuit in January 2017 to have the cameras removed, but dropped the suit six months later. Oak Brook officials have discussed filing a new lawsuit if Belford’s final decision allows for the cameras to remain activated.
“This matter was to be on Judge Belford’s May 8th call but, unbeknownst to the village, on March 13th, the court entered an order delaying the hearing to June 5,” Oak Brook Village Manager Greg Summers said. “The village is extremely disappointed that the court system would further extend a hearing on a simple matter that could have, and should have been decided last year.”
When learning of another continuance being issued, outgoing Village President Gopal Lalmalani simply said, “I’m not surprised.”
Newly-elected Village President Larry Herman said the procedural delay in the case is inexplicable, given the simple nature of the question at hand.
“The only issue to be decided is whether the Illinois Department of Transportation has the authority to revoke a permit which they previously issued,” he said. “Without such authority, why would any permittee ever file their annual data reporting? With no research to be conducted, the court could hear the matter immediately and render a decision without delay.”
Village Board member Michael Manzo, who has been very outspoken for several years in his opposition to the red-light cameras, is very troubled by the latest continuance in the case.
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“This is just another manufactured delay in what is a simple matter,” he said. “Based on the prior 12 months of ill-gotten gains that Oakbrook Terrace and SafeSpeed have generated from this corruption-laden camera at the expense of Illinois motorists, this additional month of delay will most likely account for more than $100,000 of additional money taken from motorists pockets. This is absolutely ridiculous. If you think crime doesn’t pay, you must have never lived in Illinois”
Oakbrook Terrace collected more than $12 million in revenue from violations in the just under five years of operation of the red-light cameras, leading up to IDOT’s direction to deactivate, and an additional total of just under $278,000 for the months of September, October and November 2022, after Belford’s ruling to allow the cameras to be reactivated.
Revenue for SafeSpeed, the company that Oakbrook Terrace contracted with for installation and operation of the system, collected slightly more than $7.6 million for the approximately five years during which the cameras initially operated.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.