It’s been a week since Premier Doug Ford and the provincial government shut down speed camera programs in Ontario, including those in Waterloo Region.
During this time, there have been some developments about what road safety might look like without these cameras.
The Region of Waterloo informed 570 News Radio that the cameras aren’t issuing Municipal Speed Camera tickets anymore, but they will remain installed.
“The Region leases the cameras from the vendor and has provided the required 90 days’ notice to end the contract,” the region said. “The cameras will remain in place until that time.”
They also mentioned that even though images are no longer being captured, the cameras are still gathering speed data and information on traffic flow during busy times of day.
In Guelph, however, city officials reported that their cameras have already been taken down.
“Following the Ontario government’s repeal of the use of municipal speed cameras, the City of Guelph ended its automated speed enforcement program with 12 mobile speed cameras,” said Steve Anderson, Manager of Transportation Engineering with the City of Guelph. “All cameras were turned off by Nov. 14 and removed by Nov. 18.”
Now, like many other municipalities across Ontario, Guelph is exploring other options to keep its streets safe.
The Ontario government announced it would distribute funds from a $210 million pool to help regions throughout the province implement new safety measures more easily.
Anderson noted that while discussions are still early on, it’s clear how much funding is expected for their city.
“As the city continues to prioritize road safety, we will receive $676,904 in immediate funding from the provincial Road Safety Initiatives Fund to support traffic-calming measures in school zones and community safety zones,” he said.
Since these talks are just beginning and it’s only been a week since deactivation, specific details about what those traffic-calming measures might entail are still unknown.
Summer construction at the roundabout of Erb St. W and Ira Needles Blvd., installing new traffic-calming measures (Josh Goeree/570 News Radio)
The plans may include extra signs, raised crosswalks, speed bumps, flashing lights, and similar features that Waterloo Region had already tested at key intersections in Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener.
This includes places like Erb Street West and Ira Needles Boulevard in Waterloo.
Together with Guelph, Waterloo Region has also learned how much it will receive from that provincial fund.
“The Ontario government has provided the Region of Waterloo with an initial amount of $840,000 from the Road Safety Initiative Fund, with the ability to apply for more funding this year,” the region said.
The region added that staff will work on a plan for using these funds. They plan to present a full report regarding future initiatives after shutting down those speed cameras early next year-likely at a meeting in February.
A recent committee meeting revealed that County of Wellington would be receiving $210,000 from this same provincial fund for road safety initiatives as well.
Simiarly to Waterloo Region’s approach , it stated its intention to retain all 14 total cameras-two placed within each of its seven school zones-to collect data on driver behavior moving forward.
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