Police to expand traffic cameras at 2 south Salem intersections
A pair of red light and speed cameras in south Salem will start snapping photos of traffic violations in two directions starting Thursday.
Existing cameras on Southeast Commercial Street at the intersections of Southeast Kuebler Boulevard and Southeast Madrona Avenue will be expanded to capture traffic headed north. The Kuebler camera previously only monitored drivers headed west, while the one at Madrona only detected southbound drivers, according to Salem Police Department spokeswoman Angela Hedrick.
In the last 17 years, Hedrick said Salem police have installed cameras at six intersections where a high number of collisions have occurred.
The expansion comes after Salem police responded to a record 21 fatal crashes in 2024. The agency plans to prioritize road safety in the next three years, with all patrol officers – not just those assigned to a department traffic team – focusing on traffic enforcement.
Before adding cameras, Salem police asked residents for feedback using the neighborhood social media platform Nextdoor. In an anonymous poll, 61% respondents supported police using such cameras and 59% said they wanted to see more locations added, the agency said in a news release Monday.
Between May 1-30, Salem police will issue warnings to northbound drivers who are captured on the new Commercial Street cameras running red lights or violating the speed limit.
A police officer will verify recordings of traffic violations before a citation is sent to the vehicle’s driver.
Unlike some cities that automatically send such citations to the registered owner, Salem police only do so if they verify that the driver is the same person, according to Hendrick. Officers can check by comparing the driver’s face captured on camera to the registered owner’s DMV photo.
If the face doesn’t match, Hedrick said officers try to find out who was driving by checking records and determining who the car is connected to – if it was sold recently, for example. If the driver was renting the vehicle, a ticket would be issued to the rental service, which could then identify the driver.
Salem police first installed cameras in 2008. Between then and 2022, crashes at the cameras’ locations decreased by 87%, according to a recent public report the city released to the Oregon Legislature.
Salem has red light and speed cameras at six intersections:
- Northeast Center Street at Northeast Hawthorne Avenue
- Southeast Commercial Street at Southeast Kuebler Boulevard
- Southeast Commercial Street at Southeast Madrona Avenue
- Northeast Commercial Street at Northeast Marion Street
- Southeast Mission Street at Southeast 25th Street
- Northeast Silverton Road at Northeast Fisher Road
State law requires cities that use photo radar systems to issue such reports every two years to show the cameras’ effects on traffic safety and to what extent the public supports their use.
READ IT: Salem’s 2025 traffic camera report
The Commercial Street cameras capturing northbound traffic aren’t new, but the city couldn’t use them until it could demonstrate that they were needed.
The report said crashes across all locations have continued to decrease in recent years, but “the numbers have started to level off.”
The intersection of Northeast Commercial and Marion Streets has seen an increase in crashes, mostly due to drivers turning into the wrong lane or continuing straight in a turn-only lane, according to the report. The intersection is heavily trafficked because it leads onto the westbound Marion Street Bridge to West Salem.
Salem police said they will consider additional education and enforcement to address issues at that intersection. They also plan to share information with the city’s engineering officials and with the Oregon Department of Transportation, since the bridge is an entrance to State Highway 22.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
