Dupage Policy Journal

Oakbrook Terrace officials continue to haul in revenue from a red-light camera at 22nd Street and Route 83, despite complaints from residents, a lawsuit, and orders from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to take it down.

Village Board member Michael Manzo, who opposed the cameras being installed, complained to the Chicago Tribune that the cameras are little more than a cash grab by the village, even while the issue is debated in court.

"It’s another reminder that red-light cameras are all about revenue and definitely not about safety," he said in a story published Feb. 8. "The Oakbrook Terrace red-light cameras have always been about the money, with the specter of safety used as a red herring for the corruption used to line the pockets of a select few. Oakbrook Terrace claiming the red-light cameras are about safety is laughable.”

IDOT ordered the city in May to deactivate, and then remove, the cameras. The village filed its lawsuit, alleging that IDOT overstepped its authority by attempting to dictate where the cameras were pointed.

Then, in August, Judge Craig Belford rejected IDOT's attempt to dismiss Oakbrook Terrace’s motion to stay the IDOT decision, allowing Oakbrook Terrace officials to reactivate the cameras, pending the final disposition of the case, which was continued in December to May of this year.

A Freedom of Information Act request from The Doings to Oakbrook Terrace revealed that the village has collected just under $278,000 from the cameras for red-light violations for of September, October and November alone, the Tribune reported.