Alberta extends freeze on new photo radar, promising it will only be used for safety

Alberta is extending its freeze on new photo radar equipment and locations for another year.

The freeze was initially announced in 2019 and has been extended multiple times.

The announcement was made by Devin Dreeshen, minister of transport and economic corridors, at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Additionally, Dreeshen said photo radar will be banned on provincial ring roads, like Anthony Henday Drive and Stoney Trail, starting Dec. 1 and promised to put a stop to so-called photo radar "fishing holes."

"The primary announcement here today is that people will know that photo radar will only be used for safety here in Alberta, not to generate millions of dollars for the 26 municipalities that currently allow photo radar," he said.

Dreeshen said Edmonton and Calgary will have the opportunity to redistribute photo radar locations currently used on provincial ring roads to school zones, playground zones or construction zones.

In Edmonton, there are 22 spots along the Henday where photo radar has been allowed, Calgary has eight locations on Stoney Trail.

The province says it will spend the next year examining all photo radar locations in Alberta and eliminating any that it deems to be for-profit instead of for safety.

Councillor Jo-Anne Wright has been lobbying for photo radar in her southeast Edmonton ward of Sspomitapi after a number of injury crashes and deaths.

"For me, it’s not about revenue generation, it is about the deterrent to speeding in our neighbourhoods," she told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. "Our residents need to feel safe walking about with their families."

Dreeshen says he's open to hearing from city council on where photo radar should be located as long as it's not for revenue generation.

"If there are collision areas or areas where they think and we think that photo radar would actually reduce collisions and accidents is something that we'll obviously now be engaging with," he said.

The province says $171 million in revenue was generated by photo radar across Alberta in 2022-23.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson