Warnings will be issued from two newly installed Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras starting today in the Children’s Safety Zones near Challenger Park in the North Side Lakeview neighborhood and Washington Park in the South Side Washington Park neighborhood.

The newly activated cameras are located at 1142 W. Irving Park Rd. near Challenger Park and 536 E. Morgan Dr. in Washington Park.

For the first 30 days after cameras are activated in a safety zone, only warnings will be issued for speeding violations. There is a two-week period between warnings and the issuance of the first tickets in order to ensure that motorists receive their warnings before being ticketed.

The first time a vehicle owner is eligible to receive an enforceable violation, they will instead receive a final warning. Fines for violations are $35 for vehicles travelling 6-10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit while in a safety zone, and $100 for vehicles travelling 11 or more miles over the posted speed limit. The City will start enforcement by only issuing tickets for speeders going 10 or more miles per hour over the posted speed limit. That ticket threshold will gradually be lowered going forward.

The City plans to equip Children’s Safety Zones around parks and schools with ASE cameras in an effort to increase safety and reduce speeding. Any revenue generated by the program is to be invested in critical safety initiatives including after-school, anti-violence and jobs programs; crossing guards and police officers around schools; and infrastructure improvements, such as additional signs, crosswalk markings and other traffic safety improvements. The Children’s Safety Zones are designated within 1/8th of a mile from Chicago parks or schools.

The City ordinance establishing the program narrows the hours and locations of enforcement that are allowed under state law, and provides for the following:

• The enforcement hours will be limited from 7 am to 7 pm in safety zones around schools on school days (Monday through Friday); 7 am to 4 pm: 20 mph speed limit when children are present; 30 mph speed limit when no children are present 4 pm to 7 pm: 30 mph speed limit

• The enforcement hours around parks will be limited to only those hours parks are open (typically 6am to 11pm, 7 days a week) with a 30 mph speed limit.

Last month, the City announced that at four Chicago neighborhood parks where ASE cameras have been installed, the number of recorded speeding events has dropped by nearly two-thirds from the first week of warnings to the third week of ticketing. Through the ASE cameras, the City has issued more than 350,000 30-day warnings, 42,000 final warnings and 6,500 tickets to date.