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Speed cameras added to dangerous roads in West, North, and Northeast Philly

Since speed cameras came to Roosevelt Boulevard, speeding violations have dropped 95%, and fatal and serious injury crashes are down 21%, PennDot data show.

Speed-enforcement camera on Roosevelt Boulevard near Grant Avenue.
Speed-enforcement camera on Roosevelt Boulevard near Grant Avenue.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia will install 42 speed-enforcement cameras along U.S. Route 13, the highway designation for several dangerous city roadways, under legislation ceremonially signed Monday by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.

The cameras would be placed on Baltimore Avenue; Powelton Avenue; 33rd, 34th, and 38th Streets; Girard Avenue, Hunting Park Avenue; Levick and Robbins Streets; and Frankford Avenue.

“Slowing down saves lives,” Parker said during a City Hall news conference, noting that speed is a leading cause of crashes and determines how severe they are.

Route 13 would be the city’s third speed-camera corridor. Roosevelt Boulevard has had the cameras since 2020, and the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which manages the program, plans to have 30 cameras operating along Broad Street in March.

From 2019 through 2023, U.S. Route 13 saw 123 fatal and serious injury crashes, 160 crashes of all types attributed to speeding, and 258 total crashes involving pedestrians, according to analysis by the city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems.

A state law enacted in 2023 made the Roosevelt Boulevard speed cameras permanent (they had been used on a trial basis) and also authorized Philadelphia to designate five more dangerous corridors for the technology.

Cameras have reduced speeding on the Boulevard by 95%, state data show.

Broad Street was chosen last year to go next as the most dangerous roadway in the city, after speeds and crashes dropped sharply on Roosevelt Boulevard.

Richard Lazer, executive director of the Parking Authority, said the agency was committed to working with the administration “to reduce speeding along the Route 13 corridor - the same way we reduced speeding on Roosevelt Boulevard.”

Former Republican State Rep. John Taylor of the Northeast, the author of original Roosevelt Boulevard camera bill, attended the signing. He stressed that speed cameras are not a cash grab, as did the mayor and others.

“If you get onto Roosevelt Boulevard, as many of you do, you know the culture has changed,” Taylor said. “People have slowed down — and that’s all we’ve ever asked for.”

Although a part of Roosevelt Boulevard is labeled U.S. 13, Parker said no additional cameras will be installed there.

Tickets for violations are $100 for speeding 11 mph to 19 mph over the limit, $125 for up to 20 mph over, and $150 for 30 mph or more. No points are assessed against a driver’s license for camera-captured violations.

State law requires that revenue from the enforcement pays for the operation of the cameras and funds road safety programs administered by PennDot.

“We have schools right off of Frankford Avenue, and kids are traversing Frankford Avenue all day long. We owe it to them,“ said Councilmember Mike Driscoll, who sponsored the Route 13 camera bill.

“We owe it to our seniors that just want to go to Wawa and get a cup of coffee and not have to be in a Daytona 500,” he said.