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The city of Laurel is gathering information about the cost and restrictions for speed cameras and could create a proposal for purchase and installation by early next year, officials said.

"We are looking at speed cameras now," Mayor Craig A. Moe said at the Nov. 9 City Council meeting. "There are a lot of requirements to meet."

Moe mentioned the speed-camera discussions in response to residents who spoke against an ordinance that would have changed 10th Street to a one-way street. At the Nov. 9 meeting, several people suggested speed cameras as an alternate way to calm traffic.

Patricia Deeds lives near the intersection of 10th Street and Montrose Avenue and told the council that speed cameras are needed to slow down drivers entering her neighborhood from Route 198.

"It's just a matter of time before somebody's hit," she said.

City spokesman James Collins said the type of camera that officials are considering would be portable and placed in a parked vehicle. Officials are waiting for cost estimates from different vendors, and locations for the cameras have not yet been determined. State law currently restricts the cameras to school and construction zones and allows a $40 fine for any driver caught traveling at least 12 miles over the posted speed limit.

Collins said the cost could end up being a major concern because the fines might not generate enough revenue for the city to break even on the cost of buying the cameras and the administrative costs that would go along with printing and mailing extra citations.

"By the time you pay somebody [and] go to court, it's probably not going to pay for itself," Collins said.

Even so, Councilman Frederick Smalls (Ward 2) said he thinks speed cameras would be an effective way to increase public safety. He said officials should find a way to fund the cameras even if their cost exceeds revenue.

"You take Montgomery Street, you take Montrose, you take Cherry Lane — there are a number of streets around the city where people don't observe the speed limit, and speed cameras might be a deterrent," he said.