The following is an email I sent to TxDOT in response to a letter they sent to me in response to a question I posed to the Governor.

Mr. Cotton,

I recently sent an email to Governor Perry asking him to look into a matter related to red light cameras in my city. He forwarded it to TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz, who asked Deputy Executive Director Steven Simmons to respond to me. Mr. Simmons suggested that I contact you by email if I had any further questions.

In Mr. Simmons' letter dated January 25, 2010, he states “The agreement between our agency and League City includes the installation of cameras at all three approaches to the FM 518 and I-45 intersection to improve traffic safety. The city's traffic engineering study indicates there have been crashes in all directions at this intersection.”

However, in a letter from the Director of Transportation Operations at TxDOT, Stuart C. Corder, to League City's City Engineer, Jack Murphy, dated September 15, 2009, the following intersections and approaches are listed: “We have reviewed the plans and Agreement for the City of League City locations of the photo enforcement cameras and find them acceptable for construction. All work shall follow State standards on installing the proposed photo enforcement equipment for: FM 518 at SH 3 Eastbound and Westbound, IH 45 at FM 518 Eastbound and Westbound, and FM 518 at FM 2094 Southbound and Eastbound.” To see this letter, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6slG3rsxfnoOTI0ZThmYzMtNzExZS00NjM4LTgwNmUtMjI4OGQ0ZmQ4NjQ3&hl=en

It is unclear to me how this letter from Mr. Corder shows that TxDOT approved of photo enforcement equipment installed at the Southbound approach to IH 45 at FM 518.

Please provide a dated and signed copy of the agreement showing approval for photo enforcement of the Southbound approach to IH 45 and FM 518.

Additionally, provide justification for approving the installation of photo enforcement equipment at FM 518 at FM 2094, an intersection that had zero accidents caused by red light running in the past 18 months, as evidenced by the required traffic engineering study. The relevant portions of the traffic engineering study can also found at the link above (pp 4-8, pg 7 in particular).

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your cooperation.

Dustin Gooding

cc:
Steven Simmons, Deputy Executive Director, TxDOT
Toni Randall, Mayor of League City

I'll let you know what I find out. Either way, someone appears to be hiding something. Either the City didn't provide all the information I asked for in a request for public information or TxDOT is lying through their teeth about the approvals they made.

I got a response from Jim Cotton:

Mr. Gooding,
Thank you for your message. Stuart Corder, our Houston District Director of Transportation Operations, will be forwarding you the agreement between TxDOT and League City. You should have this shortly. Mr. Corder has confirmed in our conversation that the agreement does include the southbound approach to I-45 at FM 518.

You also ask for our justification for approving the installation of photo enforcement equipment at FM 518 at FM 2094. Please note that we do not have regulatory control over the placement of red light cameras by local governments. Although we review proposed installations on our right-of-way, we do not have the authority to approve or deny red light camera installations based on merit. We do ensure that any equipment that is placed on a portion of the state highway system is adequate from a safety and engineering perspective.

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail if you would like to discuss this issue in greater detail.

Sincerely,

Jim Cotton
TxDOT, Traffic Operations
jcotton@dot.state.tx.us
(512) 416-3104

I await the document from Mr. Corder.

I also find it interesting that TxDOT claims they don't judge whether a camera has any merit at a given intersection, only that the installation of them are done correctly. I suppose that means that the city is the sole judge of merit for these cameras. If the city says “TxDOT approved”, in relation to the cameras, they aren't talking about merit… just engineering.

Mr. Corder replied with the document. It is a copy of the Amendment to the Municipal Maintenance Agreement between the City and TxDOT. It can be found here: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6slG3rsxfnoMTBmOGY4ZWEtMTA0Ni00MjYyLTg4MDUtZWJiZGFiZWFmMWM1&hl=en. Notice, it approves of all camera installations mentioned in “Exhibit A”. Exhibit A is the same as the attachment found on the document the city gave to me: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6slG3rsxfnoOTI0ZThmYzMtNzExZS00NjM4LTgwNmUtMjI4OGQ0ZmQ4NjQ3&hl=en.

Look carefully now at the city document. It's actually the cover letter used by Mr. Corder to send the Amendment and Exhibit A to the city (“Attached, is an executed copy of the Amendment…”). However, the city document doesn't include that Amendment. I had to get that from TxDOT.

What's concerning to me is that the cover letter and the Amendment don't match. The Amendment approves installations at all locations listed in Exhibit A, but the cover letter clearly calls out specific intersections (notably excluding southbound IH45 @ FM518).

So which is right? Why are they different?

I've asked Mr. Corder to clarify. “The Amendment is the official document.”