Call for fines to pay for SA road work

South Australia's speed and red light camera fines should be redirected to help pay for a $1 billion road maintenance backlog, an industry group says.

The Civil Contractors Federation of Australia says camera revenue hit a record $22 million last financial year.

Chief executive Phil Sutherland says it's time for the state government to establish a very clear link between fine revenue and improving road maintenance to make roads safer.

"Every man and his dog is cynical about some of the locations chosen for speed and red light camera operations and the fact they are purely revenue raising devices for governments," Mr Sutherland said on Thursday.

"Currently, all the revenue raised from such fines goes to general revenue, which gets used by the state government for everything, including MP salaries and entitlements."

The public would be far less cynical about the traffic camera regime if the funds raised by traffic fines were directed towards a specific, related problem, like improving roads, Mr Sutherland said.