2 days ago
Red light cameras returning to Modesto after city council approves $3M program
Red light cameras are coming back to Modesto after the City Council voted this week to approve a five-year contract worth nearly $3.7 million to install and operate the devices at 10 intersections with the city's highest crash rates.
The program, first proposed earlier in 2025 by the Modesto Police Department, aims to reduce collisions and improve safety in a city that has ranked among the top three worst in its size for total fatal and injury crashes over the past five years, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. Modesto held the number one spot in three of those years.
"Modesto has really suffered over the years with traffic accidents and fatalities," said Councilman Chris Ricci. "We don't want to be on a top ten list like that."
The council's decision Tuesday night approves a purchasing agreement with Arizona-based Verra Mobility for automated red light photo enforcement technology. The contract totals $3,691,891 over five years and will be funded through the city's Traffic Safety Fund and citation revenue.
While not all Modesto residents were sold on the plan, with some voicing concern over the fines, Ricci stressed that safety is the goal.
"We're doing this to make Modesto safer, not to make money," Ricci said.
The proposed locations for the red light cameras include: Briggsmore Avenue and Coffee Road, Sylvan Avenue and Coffee Road, Briggsmore Avenue and Carver Road, Pelandale Avenue and Carver Road, Oakdale Road and Briggsmore Avenue, McHenry Avenue and Standiford Avenue, Oakdale Road and Scenic Drive, Carpenter Road and Kansas Avenue, Ninth and G Streets, and Yosemite Boulevard and South Santa Rosa Avenue.
Modesto last operated a red-light camera program from 2004 to 2014. The city discontinued it due to police staffing shortages, which made it difficult to review violations before citations were issued -- a requirement under California law.
The new program includes a 30-day warning period before tickets are issued, and every violation will be reviewed by a Modesto police officer before being mailed.
