Red light cameras are set to be installed at four more intersections in East Baton Rouge Parish, and the city hopes to have them mobile in a month. The Department of Public Works Traffic Engineering division is working to get permits from the state to install the red light cameras at four more intersections — Scenic Highway at Blount Road, O’Neal Lane at Interstate 12, Airline Highway at Florline Boulevard and Sherwood Forest Boulevard at Airline Highway. The red light cameras are timed to capture a picture and video of drivers running red lights at intersections where the devices are installed. Traffic Engineer Sarah Paul Edel said several cameras will be installed at each intersection if the state approves the permits. The process will take two weeks to build and two weeks to mobilize.”These locations have been decided on for months,” Edel said. “It’s based on crashes.” Crash reports show the intersections have a high volume of traffic, and the new red light camera areas were chosen similarly to the other intersections in East Baton Rouge Parish. Currently, 24 cameras are installed at 15 intersections, according to the traffic engineering division. The city cannot issue the private company to install the new cameras until the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development approves the locations, which are state owned, Edel said.The department hired American Traffic Solutions to install the cameras, and the cameras don’t cost the city anything to run. The city must send a report to DOTD proving the intersection meets set criteria. The criteria includes a high volume of traffic, a functioning intersection with properly painted stripes, visible areas for the cameras and signs notifying incoming traffic of the cameras’ locations, Edel said. “[The state] wants to have more control over the way the cameras operate,” Edel said. The total number of citations issued in East Baton Rouge Parish was 27,742 from February 2008 to February 2009. The first red light camera was installed at Sherwood Forest Boulevard at Coursey Boulevard last February, and though 27 citations were issued during the first month, the camera was taken down in November 2008 after construction began at the intersection.”The evidence that we’re seeing is [the] number of citations issued is starting to even out and staying equal from month to month,” Edel said. Edel said the numbers evening out shows the red light cameras are working to at least cut down on the number of drivers who run the red lights.  College Drive at Interstate 10 had 358 citations issued in October 2008, and the numbers decreased to 284 by February 2009. The Nicholson Drive at Burbank Drive intersection shows 106 drivers were issued citations in October 2008, and the number decreased to 23 citations issued by February 2009. But the Traffic Engineering division does not know if the red light cameras have reduced the amount of traffic accidents at these designated intersections.Edel said she will begin collecting information on crash reports next month, but the report won’t be released until early fall. The red light cameras were also installed to help with police enforcement at the intersections, according to the Traffic Engineering division.But L’Jean McKneely, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman, told The Daily Reveille in February that the red light cameras haven’t freed up any officers on shift. “Hopefully, it makes a difference in driving habits,” McKneely said. – – – -Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]