Several state departments of transportation are expanding their use of automated speed cameras in highway work zones across their respective regions to beef up protections for roadway workers and motorists alike.
[Above photo by NYSDOT]
For example, the New York State Department of Transportation just began a major expansion of its Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement or “AWZSE” program statewide; a program that helps curtail speeding and reckless driving in highway construction zones and protects the lives of highway workers.
Originally approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul (D) in 2021, the initial five-year AWZSE pilot program allowed the deployment of speed enforcement cameras to a limited number of work zones operated by NYSDOT and the New York State or NYS Thruway Authority.
In 2025, the program was extended to 2031 and expanded to double the number of work zones eligible to participate and to include Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels and NYS Bridge Authority properties.
[Editor’s note: The Oregon Department of Transportation highlighted a recent incident that shows why speed is a constant danger to roadway workers in highway work zones.]
Now, under provisions adopted as part of the 2026 New York State Budget, the AWZSE program is no longer constrained to just controlled-access highways and can be deployed by NYSDOT in work zones on almost any roadway in the state.
“[This] program has already made a significant difference in slowing drivers down by 30 percent in work zones with a speed camera and I thank Governor Hochul for her determination to expand this worthy program, which is enhancing safety for all New Yorkers,” noted Marie Therese Dominguez, NYSDOT commissioner, in a statement.
“With the highway construction season in full swing, our maintenance crews and contractors are out there every day improving New York’s roads and bridges and it’s imperative that we do everything we can to keep them safe,” she stressed.
In the Midwest, the Minnesota Department of Transportation will soon begin testing speed safety cameras at construction sites on I-35W and Highway 65 later this summer.
“Speeding in work zones is the top safety concern we hear from the people who work on our roads,” said Nancy Daubenberger, MnDOT Commissioner, in a statement. “These camera systems, which have been used in other states, offer another tool that may help improve safety for everyone who works in, and travels through, the limited space within work zones.”
Meantime, out West, the Colorado Department of Transportation said that it will begin charging $75 fines via its speed camera system on July 30 in the I-25/US 50B interchange reconstruction work zone outside of Pueblo, CO.
The agency said in a statement that, one year since its launch, the camera-based Colorado Speed Enforcement Program is driving down excessive speeds in three critical highway work zones – including the I-25/US 50B Interchange Reconstruction work zone, which has witnessed a 67 percent drop in excessive speeding incidents.
And in January, the Arkansas Highway Police – a division of the Arkansas Department of Transportation – began deploying new work zone camera technology that can detect handheld device usage while driving.
The agency stressed that cameras deployed for speed enforcement and detection of the use of a handheld device are solely used to assist officers in enforcing laws in work zones. An officer must be present for a warning or ticket to be issued, Arkansas DOT emphasized, as they are not part of a “ticket-by-mail” system.
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