NEWBERG, Ore. — The Newberg-Dundee Police Department plans to install a new automated speed enforcement camera near the intersection of 1st Street and Garfield Avenue in downtown Newberg within the next several weeks, the City of Newberg announced Tuesday.
The camera is a portable unit that will capture speed violations only and is not connected to a traffic signal. Its placement may be adjusted over time depending on its effectiveness in reducing speeds through the downtown corridor, according to the city.
The announcement comes after NDPD conducted a traffic survey in May that counted more than 91,500 vehicle passages through the 1st and Garfield intersection over a seven-day period. Of those, more than 39,000 vehicles exceeded the posted 25 mph speed limit, and more than 990 were traveling 11 mph or more above the limit — a rate the department said translates to more than five citable violations per hour, around the clock.
The new camera is the latest addition to a photo enforcement program that launched earlier this year with cameras at Highway 99W and Villa Road. Unlike those installations, which are associated with traffic signals, the downtown unit is a standalone portable camera.
The City of Newberg had planned to install a red light system at the N Main Street and E 1st Street intersection during initial implementation in 2024, but ran into technical problems and shelved the effort for the time being said City Manager Will Worthey.
The city said the decision to use cameras rather than traditional traffic enforcement reflects limitations on officer capacity in high-volume corridors. A standard traffic stop and citation, the department noted, takes approximately 10 to 12 minutes to complete, limiting an officer under ideal conditions to four to five citations per hour — and only when no higher-priority calls are pending.
Salsbury said the equipment has not yet been received. After installation, the camera will undergo a testing period of roughly two weeks before enforcement begins. Advance signage will be posted at the location, consistent with the existing cameras on 99W and Villa Road.
The camera uses License Plate Reader technology, but the city said the system does not continuously monitor or log passing plates. According to the press release, LPR is activated only when a speed violation is detected, and the camera is not connected to any external surveillance network.
For more information on the city’s photo enforcement program, visit https://bit.ly/photorlrnewberg.
