The Tucson City Council is scrambling after state lawmakers put a measure on November’s ballot to ban cities and towns from using photo radar and red-light cameras.
For months, council members have been looking at reintroducing red-light cameras as one way to make streets safer, and now, they'll finally take action during a study session agenda this afternoon.
The council will consider starting the process to contract with a photo enforcement provider by the end of the year, the first concrete step toward potentially reversing 2015’s voter-approved Proposition 201.
Tucson voters chose to eliminate red-light cameras back then by a two-to-one margin. But 11 years later, the city has a different council and a decade’s worth of data showing Tucson streets have become more dangerous for everyone — whether behind the wheel, on a bicycle or simply walking across the street.
The Tucson Police Department’s traffic collision data dashboard shows 90 people died in fatal collisions in 2025.
State lawmakers recently referred a measure to the general election ballot that would largely ban cities from adopting new photo enforcement systems and require cities with existing camera contracts to get voter approval to keep them running.
Now, the City Council’s goal is to make sure the city is grandfathered in under existing state law, which currently lets cities and towns decide whether to use photo enforcement programs, before voters decide in November whether to block additional communities from adopting them.
That means the city needs to have a contract in place with a third-party photo enforcement provider before the end of the year, just in case the statewide referendum passes in November. Entering a photo radar contract wouldn’t immediately bring the cameras back, but it would preserve the city’s ability to ask local voters later.
Whether the measure passes or not, the city would need to put both the repeal of Proposition 201 and a red-light camera proposal on the ballot, and city hall insiders flag November 2027 as a potential election date.
Data backs up need for cameras
In 2015, city officials removed red-light cameras after voters passed Proposition 201, effectively banning the city from using red-light cameras and photo radar to issue traffic tickets.
While the city averaged 45 traffic-related fatalities a year between 2013 and 2015, Assistant City Manager Kristina Swallow said that number has doubled over the past decade in her 14-page report to the council.
While the city cannot prove photo enforcement saves lives, she said, the data shows deadly crashes increased after the cameras were removed.
The number of traffic-related deaths in the past three years — when traffic cameras haven’t been used — was more than double that of the last three years when the cameras were at major intersections, according to the Tucson Police Department.
The report comes as Tucson was recently ranked by nonprofit Smart Growth America as the fourth-most dangerous metropolitan area in the U.S. for pedestrians. But the grim distinction isn't new — Tucson has ranked near the top of similar lists for several years.
The city currently averages nearly 6,000 crashes a year, or roughly one crash every 90 minutes.
The top 20 most dangerous intersections in Tucson, Include three on Grant Road, three on Speedway Boulevard and three more on Broadway Boulevard.
Tucson can manage its data better
When Tucson voters banned red-light cameras in 2015, the top concern was privacy and data sharing, or that hundreds of thousands of commuters could be indirectly tracked through photo enforcement systems and license plate readers.
Now, a decade later, government agencies are no longer the only entities using surveillance technology.
National retailers like Home Depot, Walmart, Costco and Target have acknowledged using license plate readers in some — but not all — retail locations for security purposes.
And public attitudes toward mass surveillance have shifted. Those retailers generally only share their information with law enforcement, and city officials are expected to follow a similar model if voters eventually restore photo enforcement in 2027 or 2028.
However, reintroducing cameras is only part of the discussion. The city is still debating what additional steps it should take to make streets safer.
For example, officials expect to invest $1.4 million in what they call “spot-safety improvements.” That includes traffic signal timing adjustments, refreshed striping and signage, and minor upgrades such as converting standard crosswalks into high-visibility crosswalks.
Local advocates are also pushing the city to consider more substantial changes, including protected bike lanes and road diets — reducing two travel lanes to one while adding dedicated bike lanes or wider pedestrian infrastructure.
The meeting starts at 1 p.m.
As we lamented two weeks ago, the Pima County Board of Supervisors’ new schedule this month clashes with the Tucson City Council’s, which means both are meeting separately this afternoon.
Here are the five things we're watching:
The FY27 county budget: Unions are making a last-minute push to convince at least three supervisors to reopen the budget and carve out money for employee raises.
Replacing Brian Johnson: Former Pima County Treasurer Brian Johnson resigned last week, and supervisors now have to decide how they'll fill the remaining two-and-a-half years of his term.
The county administrator search, take two: Supervisors appear ready to abandon the idea of handling the search themselves and instead hire a firm to conduct a national search.
Saving the jail GED program: Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos eliminated adult education classes at the jail, but supervisors are considering a $170,000 agreement with Pima Community College to keep the program alive.
The next move in a COVID-era lawsuit: Supervisors will meet in executive session to discuss Stone v. Pima County, a case involving a former Public Defense Services investigator who says he was fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The county is considering whether to take the fight to the state's highest court.
Beale bill blocked: Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed HB2873, legislation that was designed to benefit Beale Infrastructure by letting referendum organizers withdraw petitions seeking to put Marana’s data center fight before voters. Hobbs said she vetoed the bill “because it would introduce uncertainty and confusion into ongoing litigation on the subject matter,” but a Pima County Superior Court judge killed the entire referendum in a separate court case.
DACA in danger: The arrest of Karla Toledo — who has hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and participates in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — is raising new concerns that federal officials are looking to target DACA recipients, Lookout’s John Washington reports. After much social media and press attention, Toledo was subsequently released, and the case against her was dismissed. But immigration attorneys say her case, court rulings that have made it easier to place DACA recipients into removal proceedings and lengthy delays in status renewals all reflect a broader, high-level shift in federal immigration policy changes.
But I did not pay the deputy: The Pima County Deputy Sheriff’s Association wants county leaders to set aside more than $1 million in the budget to boost deputy pay, KVOA’s Jacob Owens reports. Deputies get $1.30 per hour when they’re on-call, and association Chair Tyler Rivas says better pay could prevent employees from leaving for higher-paying agencies. County Administrator Jan Lesher has asked for a review of extra pay policies across county departments amid broader hiring and retention problems.
Gonna be a tight one: Democrat JoAnna Mendoza has a slight lead over Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani in Congressional District 6, according to a new poll posted by Politico. But the numbers come with a big asterisk: The poll was commissioned by House Majority PAC — which is backing Mendoza — and the margin is slim, with the Democratic challenger leading Ciscomani 47% to 45%.
No polling necessary: Supporting local, independent journalism is good for a healthy democracy.
Wild west haggling: Pima County and the company that runs Old Tucson Studios are still negotiating a contract after the studio and theme park declined a proposed 10-year lease extension, the Sentinel’s Mia Kortright reports. Its manager since 2022 says the park is not making enough money under the current plan for a long-term deal, while county officials say they could still reach an agreement on a shorter lease, or eventually find a new operator to begin work when the current contract expires in 2027.
The 10-day forecast for Tucson is looking a little bleak, with triple-digit temperatures and exactly zero rain in sight.
So Joe has decided to take matters into his own hands by participating in the University of Arizona’s Fantasy Monsoon Forecast League.
The concept is simple: Log in once a week and make your best guess about when — and how much — rain will fall from the sky.
The game, designed by University of Arizona researchers, lets Tucsonans pretend to be meteorologists without the burden of a science degree, a green screen or the emotional responsibility of being wrong on live television.
At this point in the summer, we’re all basically amateur weather forecasters anyway, staring at clouds and declaring, “It smells like rain.”