Drivers negotiating one of Hillsboro’s most dangerous intersections won’t have to worry about automated cameras after all.

Subscribe today

This story was printed on Page

A1

of the April 9 Hillsboro Argus. To subscribe to the Argus for less than $3.50 a month

.

The Hillsboro City Council Tuesday reversed its June 2009 decision to install a monitoring system offered by Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz., at Northwest Evergreen Parkway and 185th Avenue.

Breaking its signed contract with Redflex will set the city back $2,000, a penalty that would have been much higher had equipment already been installed.

According to a memo supplied by Hillsboro Police Lt. Henry Reimann, the project’s coordinator, progress had been delayed and a memo of understanding with Washington County, which has responsibility for 185th as a primary arterial, had been placed on hold.

Tuesday’s discussion essentially duplicated arguments raised during a February council work session. In the 2009 vote to implement the automated system, only Councilors Aron Carleson and Doug Johnson had withheld support. Now, of the remaining council members, only Ed Dennis, who had originally proposed adding this “tool” to the traffic safety mix available to Hillsboro police, remained in favor of implementation.

Objections centered around the image projected by the use of photo monitoring of drivers.

Councilor Aron Carleson focused on the damage this could do to the city’s reputation. The Evergreen-185th intersection is very close to a high-use exit from Highway 26. “Welcome to Hillsboro,” Carleson said. “Your first intersection is with photo red light camera.”

Council Mike Castillo pointed out another consequence of camera implementation: the severing of the relationship between the traffic patrol officer and driver. “You can go to court (to challenge the ticket), but it is a fundamentally different relationship with a judge,” he said.

Both Castillo and Carleson, along with Dennis, serve on the council’s Transportation Committee, which had originally recommended bringing the monitoring system to Hillsboro. The committee’s shift of support was not lost on Councilor Doug Johnson, who pointed out that both the motion and second to terminate came from within its members.

Castillo suggested that over time photo red light surveillance might become more acceptable as a traffic safety tool. “In 10 years this might e viewed as just how cities do business,” he said.

This argument did not play well with Councilor Nenice Andrews who questioned the value of such systems for accident prevention. “I’m fairly jaded in regard to statistical studies,” she said. “So last time was a qualified yes, and I probably would have been OK with it if it hadn’t come back.”

“Now, from a philosophical view, I am opposed to even a pilot project,” she concluded.