East Lyme ― The multiyear Interstate 95 construction project at the exit 74 interchange is part of the state’s test run for speed cameras in work zones.

The speed camera and radar system arrived atop a white SUV June 5 from its previous position in Newtown, where it watched over reconstruction of the Rochambeau Bridge. The Know The Zone: Speed Safety Camera Program, which applies to work zones with posted speed limits over 45 mph, started in Newtown, Norwalk and East Hartford.

The state Department of Transportation rolled out the pilot program on April 10 with four of the SUVs featuring “speed safety systems” to slow down traffic in work zones. The setup works by snapping pictures of vehicles going more than 15 mph over the limit.

The owner of any car caught speeding through a work zone will be greeted with first-class mail from the state’s Centralized Infraction Bureau. The first offense comes with a warning. The second includes a $75 ticket. Every offense after that will cost $150.

State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kafi Rouse on Friday said 581,658 vehicles traveled through the targeted work zones from the start of the pilot program through June 11.

She said there were 2,739 vehicles clocked traveling faster than 15 mph over the speed limit, with warnings issued to 1,344 of them. The remainder were rejected as unreadable or are still being processed.

There have been no citations sent out so far, she said.

Images are reviewed by troopers from the Connecticut State Police before any notices can be issued, according to Rouse. So it’s possible there are repeat offenders who haven’t made it through the vetting process yet or whose license plates couldn’t be discerned.

“At some point, those who receive the warnings, hopefully they will take heed, but those who don’t, they will receive a citation,” she said.

Rouse said there are no points assessed against the driver's license of someone who receives a citation and the violation isn’t reported on driving records.

“This is not a ticket,” she said. “We issue the warnings and we issue the citations and the goal is to change behavior. It’s not to make money at all.”

A sample citation provided by Rouse identifies the form as a “complaint ticket.”

Rouse cited successful programs like one in Pennsylvania that began in April 2020.

The three-year pilot program there yielded 1.1 million violations, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. About 18% of that total came from repeat offenders.

The report said the pilot program collected more than $15 million in fines but cost nearly $2.5 million more than that to administer. About 76% of those ticketed paid their fines.

The Pennsylvania report said there were 100 fewer crashes in 2021 than there were before the pandemic in 2019. The report said the 6% decrease was “in direct contrast to national trends of increased work zone crashes from pre-pandemic to today.”

Rouse reiterated post-pandemic effects are putting people in danger in work zones and elsewhere on the road.

“People sped up during 2020 and they have not necessarily slowed down since then,” she said. “And there’s more cars on the road.”

Connecticut DOT data shows 3,674 work zone crashes from 2019 to 2022, with 13 fatalities and 37 serious injuries. Rouse said the majority of fatalities were drivers or passengers, not site workers.

Lawmakers in 2021 authorized the cameras to be used in no more than three locations at any given time through Dec. 31. Rouse said that means there can be up to three cameras during the day and three cameras at night, though the pilot program’s four vehicles limits coverage.

The cameras are operational from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for the East Lyme project, according to the DOT’s Know the Zone website. Work slated for the past week included placement of a temporary barrier, new pavement markings, temporary paving, median reconstruction and drainage installation.

The DOT in a press release said photos are taken only when a vehicle is traveling over 15 mph and the images of any visible occupants will be masked. The agency said data collected by the speed safety systems is used strictly for this program, with no data used for surveillance “or any other law enforcement purposes.”

The location of the speed cameras is posted ahead of time on the DOT website. Signs will be located 500 feet and 200 feet before the SUV while enforcement is in effect.

The speed camera will be in the East Lyme work zone at least through July 9, Rouse said.

e.regan@theday.com