City councillor decries elimination of road safety 'tools' in wake of Alberta move to limit photo radar
An Edmonton city councillor says the provincial government's decision to eliminate the use of photo radar on the bulk of roadways crews currently patrol will mean denying residents safer roads.
A recent memo sent by city administration to city councillors obtained by CTV News Edmonton last week outlines policy changes that include banning photo radar on provincial and numbered highways, and roads that connect with provincial highways.
That means photo radar crews would no longer set up to catch speeders on Anthony Henday Drive, Yellowhead Trail, Whitemud Drive, Stony Plain Road, Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard.
By December, the city's use of photo radar will be limited to playground, school and construction zones. The use of speed cameras at intersections will also be scrapped.
Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador says photo radar is a proven tool to improve safety and that her office regularly receives requests for more of it.
"They have directly requested … additional automated enforcement in these areas, and it's disappointing to know that we'll have to likely tell them 'no' because of the decision from the province," Salvador told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.
"As a municipality, we're limited in the types of tools that we have to increase traffic safety. Eliminating one of those tools we know works is concerning."
Devin Dreeshen, the province's transportation minister, told CTV News Edmonton in a statement on Wednesday his ministry "engaged" with municipalities and police to eliminate "fishing hole" photo radar locations.
"The province wants to ensure photo radar is used for traffic safety rather than revenue generation," Dreeshen said.
In June, the minister said he was considering reducing the number of photo radar sites by 85-90 per cent, telling CTV News Edmonton that Alberta is an outlier among Canadian provinces with 2,400 radar locations while others typically have between 200 and 400 of them.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said in retort at the time the use of photo radar by the city allows police to focus on other work and that losing it would cut revenue and increase costs of speed enforcement.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
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