Speeds cameras are being added to the construction zone in July as the new flyover interchange is being built at I-95 and Route 896.
On July 8, the state will start using speed cameras around the I-95/Route 896 construction zone in Newark, and they’ll stay there until the project has ended.
Drivers will have 21 days — dubbed a warning period — to get used to the cameras’ presence, according to the Delaware Department of Transportation.
Then registered vehicle owners will receive a base violation of $20.00, plus $1 per mile per hour the car was going over the posted work zone speed limit and other fees that apply to all tickets.
For example, DelDOT said, if the captured violation occurs at a speed of 66 mph, the speed violation is $20 plus an additional $11, or $1 for each mile per hour over the 55-mph posted work zone speed limit, plus other fees for a total of $118.
Second and subsequent offenses are higher.
The tickets are civil penalties only and no points will be assessed to driver’s licenses.
Speed camera use
Delaware first used the speed cameras on I-95 in Wilmington from January 2022 through November 2022 during the Restore the Corridor project.
Data from that pilot program showed a 46% decrease in total crashes and a 38% decrease in injury crashes compared to the same time period in 2021 when construction was also occurring.
Overall speeds through the construction zone decreased by more than 5 mph on average after the program began.
“The I-95/896 interchange project is currently the largest infrastructure project in the state with hundreds of people working in the area,” said Secretary of Transportation Nicole Majeski.
There have not been any accidents that hurt workers, she said, “but we continue to see too many crashes involving vehicles traveling through the work zone.”
The I-95 and 896 Interchange project involves creating a flyer that hopefully will ease congestion near the Newark Toll Plaza on I-95 and going into Newark on South College by improving the merging and diverging of 896 traffic on and off of I-95.
The main goal, the project proposal says, is to improve safety and traffic operations to maintain mobility for local and through traffic, while not adversely affecting the operational performance of the toll plaza.
To do that, the state is reconfiguring existing interchange ramps, widening I-95 northbound and southbound, widening and rehabilitating existing bridges on I-95 and 896, and building new bridges, retaining walls, sign structures and lighting.
The project has meant occasional closing of lanes on both I-95 and 896.
