Newport’s speed-camera circus is back in town — and, surprise, Colin Kennedy is once again center stage.
After being ordered to tear down the unauthorized speed cameras he secretly planted on Ruggles Avenue last February without City Council approval, Newport’s embattled city manager is now trying to reinstall them. This time, he’s asking for permission at next Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
But there’s a glaring problem: essentially no one is speeding.
A new city traffic study, conducted over one month, shows that out of 50,405 cars traveling on Ruggles Avenue, only 867 were going above 35 mph — the threshold typically required to trigger a ticket and the standard used in Middletown, Warwick, East Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls. Providence sets its threshold at 11 mph over.
That’s a microscopic 1.72%.
Yet Kennedy wants to lace that beautiful stretch with massive state-mandated warning signs — four per approach, each a hulking 3 feet by 4 feet — turning one of Newport’s most charming streets into a cluttered billboard corridor… all to nab a tiny handful of fast drivers.
And let’s not forget: Kennedy already ignored this exact signage requirement when he installed traffic cameras on Admiral Kalbfus Blvd. That oversight could put his entire cash-grab operation there on shaky legal footing.
Now Kennedy’s back, trying to resurrect the very plan that blew up in his face the first time.
And here’s the kicker: it’s not actually a school zone, no matter what he says. We measured the placement of the last cameras. Seriously — go drive it. They were more than a quarter mile away, well outside what state law requires. Kennedy is trying to measure “as the crow flies” instead of how a car drives or how a student walks.
If school safety is really the goal, why not put the cameras in front of Rogers High School?
Newport, buckle up.
Here. We. Go. Again.
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