East Lyme ― Word on the street is speed cameras have helped slow traffic in work zones.

State Department of Transportation project engineer Andrew Millovitsch estimated most drivers were going 75 or 80 miles per hour through a dangerous expanse of Interstate 95 between exits 74 and 75 before construction began this spring on a four-and-a-half year project to make the roadway safer and less congested.

Now, he said speeds have dropped “significantly.”

The local rollout of the DOT’s Know The Zone pilot program on June 5 brought SUVs equipped with cameras to snap pictures of vehicles going more than 15 mph over the limit. The first violation comes with a warning directed to the registered owner of the vehicle, while the second comes with a $75 ticket. Subsequent violations cost $150 each.

DOT spokesman Josh Morgan said warnings went out to 7,716 car owners so far for speeding through the East Lyme work zone. Three owners received tickets.

The tickets issued in East Lyme account for half of the tickets issued statewide since the program launched in April.

The three other tickets were issued in Norwalk, where construction is going on between exits 16 and 18 on Interstate 95.

The pilot program allows the speed cameras to be used in up to three work zones during the day and three at night. Locally, they’ve also been used in Groton on I-95 and from Griswold to Plainfield on I-395.

Morgan said he doesn’t have statistics on average speeds in work zones with cameras, but the information will be included in a DOT report on the pilot program expected early next year.

“Anecdotally, from people on the ground, people are slowing down,” he said.

The SUVs can be found on the northbound or southbound side of the highway between mile markers 86 and 88 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Morgan said the cameras are only operational while construction crews are on site.

Robert Obey of Glastonbury-based GM2, who serves as the resident engineer for the construction project, reiterated what he perceived as a “significant” decrease in speeds on the highway.

Even though current efforts to remove 300 feet of ledge from the project area involves crews working mainly alongside the highway instead of on it, Obey said the mindset of drivers in the work zone needs to change now.

He pointed to four years of construction marked by shifting, narrow lanes that will be riskier at high speeds for drivers and workers alike.

“You need to change the culture,” he said. “The culture in East Lyme was ‘we speed.’”

Morgan last week said 126,675 of the 492,384 vehicles traveling through the work zone were going over the 50 mph speed limit, whether that means going 51 mph or 91 mph.

“One in four cars are speeding through the work zone,” he said.

According to the University of Connecticut Crash Data Repository, there were 2,874 crashes in work zones from the beginning of 2020 through July of this year. There were 11 fatalities and 25 suspected serious injuries.

The speed camera program was approved by the state legislature in 2021 at the last minute even though lawmakers had stripped the provision from a traffic safety bill earlier in the session. The language reappeared in the budget implementer bill, which is filled with wide-ranging policies that don’t necessarily receive the same level of individual scrutiny as typical bills.

Connecticut State Police Union executive director Andy Matthews at the time objected to the program as an effort to replace state troopers with “unreliable” cameras. He also objected to the fact that warnings and tickets are sent to the registered owner of the vehicle even though that might not be the person who was driving.

Matthews said it’s a police officer’s responsibility to calibrate speed enforcement equipment, witness the violation, investigate it, verify the identity of the driver and use discretion to determine if enforcement action is necessary.

“Unfortunately, a speed enforcement camera is not capable of making these decisions and should not be relied upon or considered as evidence that a violation of law has occurred on our roadways,” he wrote.

In East Lyme, the mobile units with cameras on them have been seen on different days next to or in front of signs announcing the 50 mph work zone speed limit.

Morgan, asked if it is appropriate to put a speed trap where or even before the speed limit changes, said he would look into it.

Around town and among area commuters, those most vocal on the topic came out in support of the cameras.

Kevin McMahon of Groton said speed enforcement by police is “clearly lacking” throughout the state. He described the level of careless and reckless driving as mind-boggling.

“Some people might think cameras are Orwellian,” he said. “So be it.”

Jeff Von Flatern, who commutes through East Lyme on his way to businesses he owns in Clinton and Guilford, said he believes the average speed is down a bit since the cameras arrived.

It’s a departure from the days when those who dared to drive the speed limit were “tailgated, beeped at, endured various creative hand gestures and just about run off the road,” according to Von Flatern.

“I welcome the cameras and hope they stay after the construction,” he said.

e.regan@theday.com