Curtailing side-impact, or t-bone, crashes is what prompted the city to install red light cameras. It's been a little more than a year since the first one went up in the southbound lanes of National Avenue at Battlefield Road. Traffic Engineer Earl Newman says the results are promising...

“It has shown a reduction from 38 crashes the year before to 31 the year after,” said Newman.

Newman anticipates the reduction in crashes will only increase. Armed with that knowledge, the city is going ahead with plans to install eight more red-light camera enforcement systems.

It's a plan that sits well with Police Chief Lynn Rowe.

"The red light cameras don't lie and so everything is right there for you to see,” said Rowe.

Prior to the devices going up, catching red light runners was the sole responsibility of police officers. It was a labor-intensive practice for a police force that's already understaffed.

"We had to use two officers to observe conditions of the light and describe the violator’s vehicle and a second officer to make the traffic stop beyond the intersection,” said Rowe.

The contractor will start erecting the new systems by the end of this month if all goes as planned. All eight could be in place by the end of the year.

City leaders say that will mean even fewer accidents and more help for police.

"It gives us that extra tool to work each individual intersection and they work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we don't have to pay them overtime,” said Rowe.

Newman says they'll be put up along Kansas Expressway where it intersects with Kearney Street, Chestnut Expressway and Sunshine Street, and along Glenstone Avenue at Battlefield Road, Sunshine and Chestnut. One intersection will get two enforcement systems, since each system only works for vehicles going one direction.

Springfield already operates red light enforcement systems on southbound National at Battlefield, westbound Sunshine at National, westbound Sunshine at Campbell, and two directions at Campbell at Battlefield.