Route 1 speed camera ready for real tickets

The warning period for speeders driving southbound on Route 1 near Red Mill Pond is about to end, and officials assure the public that the camera can pinpoint the lawbreakers flying by.

“The speed camera is able to differentiate the speeds of vehicles in multiple lanes,” said Charles “C.R.” McLeod, director of community relations for the Delaware Department of Transportation. “For example, while the camera has been in use on I-95, it is able to track vehicle speeds across four lanes and photograph those vehicles accordingly.” 

Radar speed signs placed before the camera, which often vigorously flash “slow down” for those going over 50 mph, do not differentiate vehicles by lane, he said.

“So if the car next to you was going 58 mph, that is what it was showing, and not your speed,” McLeod said.

Starting Tuesday, Nov. 11, the pain for speeding in the area before the Minos Conaway Road work zone will be real.

Registered vehicle owners receiving a first offense will get a base violation of $20 and an additional amount added for each mile per hour over the posted work zone speed limit of 50 mph in accordance with Delaware law.

For example, officials said, if the captured violation occurs at a speed of 61 mph, the speed violation is $20 plus an additional $11, which accounts for $1 for each mile per hour over the 50 mph speed limit. When added with other fees set forth in Delaware Code, the total will be $118.

Second and subsequent offenses are higher. These violations are civil penalties only; no points will be assessed to driver's licenses.

The speed camera monitoring the southbound lanes has been live since Oct. 21, but the state has only been giving warnings. McLeod said there is no report yet on the number of warnings issued, but it will be available after the warning period ends.

Speed cameras have also been deployed on I-95 in the area of the Route 896 interchange since July 2024, officials said, and speeds have been reduced by an average of 10% in both directions, and crashes reduced by 19%.

As of January 2025, McLeod said, more than 100,000 violations have been mailed. More information about the speed cameras will be included in an end-of-the-year report, he said.