The system, enforcing the 70mph limit, was installed by Highways England alongside resurfacing works on the route between Ipswich and Dedham, which was completed at the end of June.
However Suffolk Constabulary, which took control of the camera system, has been forced to admit it has not been detecting motorists yet after a Freedom of Information request by this paper turned up no figures for offenders caught.
Cameras monitor the time it takes drivers to travel between each camera point, which begins in Dedham in Essex and runs through Hughes Corner until near to East Bergholt.
The force says the cameras are due to be switched on “imminently”.
A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: “They have not been turned on yet because there is a process of testing and compliance before they become operational.
“The system has to be linked up with the back office and checked, it is not a case that they are put in ready to go – there is a lot more to it.
“Some of the signage had become obscured by trees which highways teams had to cut back before the cameras could become operational.
“It is anticipated they will become operational during October.”
James Cartlidge, MP for South Suffolk, said he was “surprised” to learn the cameras had not yet been activated.
He added: “I don’t doubt you have to prepare these things and so on.
“But as always it helps to communicate.
“Some motorists might understandably feel peeved to learn through all this time they have not been switched on.
“The A12 has had a lot of attention recently with the over-running engineering works which I met with Highways England about, and the three lanes in Essex, and amongst all that people had understood these cameras were on and watching them as they drove past.”
Mr Cartlidge added that he had hoped the cameras would make the road safer, particularly around the poor junctions at East Bergholt and Four Sisters.
The force has not revealed an exact date to discourage drivers from speeding before the cameras are switched on.
- Published in the EADT