Why Should Delaware Care?
A total of 39 people have died on Delaware roads in 2025 so far, with speeding cited for many of those instances. Main Street in Newark has also several pedestrian deaths this year, which has led to the funding of automated speed cameras on that stretch.
Following several high-profile pedestrian deaths this year, Main Street in Newark is set to become the latest location to install automated speed cameras as officials seek to tamp down on speeding in the high-traffic corridor.
The cameras were approved by state lawmakers under this year’s capital budget, and they also included funding cameras on Milltown and McKennans Church roads in the Pike Creek area.
This follows not only a deadly accident on Main Street in April, but concerns from residents of Milltown Road.
Those concerns from residents were heard at the New Castle County Council meeting last month, when council approved an ordinance to begin using automated speed cameras.
The state budget authorizes the City of Newark and New Castle County to enter an agreement with the Delaware Department of Transportation stipulating that both the city and the county must use the department’s contracted third-party vendor, Elovate.
It is the same company that currently contracts with both the city and the county.
According to the language of the bill the authorization for the “electronic speed monitoring system” will expire after one year unless it is reauthorized. Lawmakers also provided a sunset provision, which puts a hard stop on the program in June 2028.
In 2024, the Newark City Council approved the use of speed cameras and signed a contract with Elovate, putting the city on the path of becoming one of the first communities in Delaware to begin using speed cameras that automatically issue civil citations above a speed threshold. Previously, a department officer would have to review camera records and issue the tickets.
There is currently no specified location where the speed cameras would be installed on Main Street itself. Yet, the cameras are categorized as the “Medium-term” solutions by the City Council, which were discussed during the meeting but not approved.
Following outcry from the university community, including a petition that garnered over 16,000 signatures for the implementation of speed bumps on Main Street, city council directed certain parties to form a stakeholder group.
They included representatives from the city, the University of Delaware, the UD Police Department, Aetna Fire Company, DelDOT and the Newark Police Department, along with local members of the state legislature.
In total, 11 measures were approved by the council, including new all-way stops at both the Haines Street and Tyre Avenue intersections, as well as reboundable crosswalk signs placed between travel lanes.
City Council hopes the short-term measures can be implemented prior to the start of the fall semester at the University of Delaware.