Over the summer, the City of Kenmore installed a photo enforcement system on Simonds Road near Inglemoor to enforce school zone speed limits. The system uses cameras and radar to detect speeding along the road. When students are present in the morning and afternoon, the speed limit along Simonds Road reduces from 30 to 20 mph, as indicated by the flashing yellow lights. If the system determines a driver exceeds either of these speed limits at their respective times, the cameras will take two photos and a video as evidence. The data is then sent to the Kenmore Police Department, who will examine the footage and mail a citation to the registered owner’s address if a violation has occurred.

The need for photo enforcement arose from evidence of drivers in Kenmore consistently traveling at speeds greatly exceeding the speed limit in school zones. In 2019, the city reported that 99% of drivers in the Arrowhead school zone on Juanita Drive traveled more than six mph over the speed limit. They also reported that in 2021, an average of 1,171 drivers in the Arrowhead zone traveled more than 16 mph over the speed limit every day. In response, the Kenmore City Council passed an order to begin photo enforcement on Juanita Drive near Arrowhead Elementary and on 73rd Avenue near Kenmore Elementary in Feb. 2022.

The installation of these two photo enforcement cameras has led to a considerable decrease in speeding incidents. In 2023, after a year of photo enforcement at Arrowhead, the average number of drivers traveling more than 16 mph over the speed limit decreased from over 1,000 to just three per day. 

The City of Kenmore expects to make around $1.7 million per year from their automated photo enforcement program. You can find more information about the speed enforcement program on the Kenmore Automated Photo Enforcement website.