The New York State Department of Transportation has expanded its trial Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement Program across the entire state, allowing the system to be deployed in most any highway construction zone.
As part of the 2026 state budget, the cameras are no longer limited to controlled-access highways. The cameras capture a series of images of a vehicle’s approach and departure from the monitored work zone to document distance and time of travel. Radar captures travel speeds. All violations are reviewed by a state-certified technician to verify captured information is correct before a Notice of Liability is mailed to the vehicle’s owner, according to NYSDOT.
Qualifying jobsites will receive signs to alert drivers to work zone cameras. That system runs a daily self-check before capturing violations, NYSDOT says.
Owners will receive the notice within 14 business days if they are a resident of New York and within 45 business days for nonresidents. The first violation carries a $50 penalty, and a second penalty incurs a $75 fine if it happens within 18 months of the first offense. The same is true for the $100 fine applied for a third offense, and late fees can be applied to all fines.
Powered byOwners can contest the ticket and submit supporting documentation through the program’s website.
The pilot program was extended in 2025 to 2031 with double the number of eligible work zones and included MTA Bridges and Tunnels and NYS Bridge Authority properties.
The original five-year pilot program, a collaboration between NYSDOT and the New York State Thruway Authority signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2021, aimed to address speeding and reckless driving on highway jobsites to protect workers. In 2025, according to NYSDOT, the state saw 366 work zone crashes on state-owned roads resulting in 58 injuries and two fatalities.
According to state Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez the pilot program had slowed drivers by 30 percent in work zones with a speed camera.
