ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After 25,000 New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) work zone speeding tickets were issued in Rochester over 24 days, News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean spoke with the DOT Commissioner about the program.

The tickets, issued by a photo radar camera and not a state trooper, have raised concerns as our reporting shows that for thousands of drivers who received a ticket, there was no posted speed limit sign.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “You think this is a good program? And you think it works?”

Marie Therese Dominguez, Commissioner NYS DOT: “I do. It’s fundamentally about protecting our workforce.”

When the camera was set up on I-490 downtown in the fall, it ticketed more than a thousand drivers a day, well above the state average of 182.

“I get a weekly report on what’s happening in our work zones,” Commissioner Dominguez said when asked if the high number of tickets raised any red flags within the department.

Berkeley Brean: “Do you get notified about how many tickets you issue?”

Marie Therese Dominguez: “I do.”

Berkeley Brean: “And did this location in Rochester raise a red flag to you?”

Marie Therese Dominguez: “It did. Our folks here in the region flagged it. And what we realized is, bottom line, you had a stretch of road we were working on where people were exceeding the speed limit and they were doing it on a daily basis.”

The DOT says 75 percent of the tickets went to cars and trucks in two specific lanes, estimating that roughly 18,000 of the 25,000 drivers were already on I-490 by the bridge downtown where there were construction cones, speed limit signs, and signs about the radar. However, my reporting shows there is no speed limit sign for drivers entering I-490 East from downtown, meaning the first speed limit sign roughly 7,000 ticketed drivers saw said 55 mph.

Kevin Gee, a driver who received tickets, told me he got six of them. This includes drivers who were the first to have their cases heard in city traffic court in January, where nearly every ticket was dismissed, in part because there was no speed limit sign.

“But in this case, I will reemphasize, everyone was fairly warned both from the speed signs and our photo enforcement signs that were out there,” Commissioner Dominguez said. “If they choose to continue to speed through a work zone everyday, I can’t help that.”

Berkeley Brean: “I understand. But not if they were getting onto the highway from downtown where thousands of people do.”

Marie Therese Dominguez: “I appreciate what you’re saying but our data is basically saying the majority, over 70% of the motorists ticketed in that area were not coming off the ramp.”

The DOT says putting up a speed sign on the on-ramp is complicated and needs federal approval, but they’ll look into it. Based on the number of tickets and our reporting, the DOT is looking at making changes.

“We’re not going to be working that exact same location this summer,” Commissioner Dominguez said. “But will we take the lesson learned from all of this last summer into account as we set up this summer’s construction work zones and going into this construction season in 2025? Absolutely.”

The governor wants to make the photo radar system permanent in her budget. The DOT says the data shows there wasn’t a single crash in a work zone that had a photo radar camera, and the longer the camera was there, the slower the traffic went. There are 300 cases in Rochester traffic court for people who got a ticket.

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