WELLINGTON COUNTY – “Premier (Doug) Ford needs to realize that not every municipality in Ontario is Toronto or Mississauga.”
That’s what county councillor Gregg Davidson said in defence of Wellington County’s automated speed enforcement (ASE) one-year pilot program.
He was responding to comments made by Ford at an event in downtown Toronto on Sept. 9, during which the premier threatened to scrap speed cameras across the province, calling them “nothing but a tax grab.”
Ford’s comments came after learning 17 speed cameras were cut down in the city.
“[Toronto] has multiple cameras in place. I’m not talking seven like we have, I’m talking hundreds,” Davidson said.
“So I understand where Premier Ford might be coming from … but it certainly doesn’t reflect on what we’re doing here in Wellington County.”
Davidson does not agree the ASE program should be terminated, saying “we’ve got a very good program … where we are just targeting right now the school zones.”
He also doesn’t believe the cameras are a tax grab, especially in the county.
According to Davidson, Ford should be more concerned about the regulation of speed cameras and how/where they get installed.
“We don’t have any such damages that are happening here,” Davidson said.
“Our [cameras] are placed on hydro poles and not on street level.”
He added, “I do have concerns with if the province decides to scrap the program.
“It’s going to affect how we’re seeing results here and I am afraid the speed limits will increase once again.”
Though the county has collected over $6 million from its ASE pilot program to date, Davidson said the decision to implement the program was not based on financial benefits.
“We’re taking that money we are receiving and putting it right back into road safety,” he said.
He referred to a Sept. 9 county report that highlighted pavement markings used as a traffic calming measure as an example of funds returning to roads safety.
The updated total of ASE fine revenue collected to the end of August totals over $16 million.
“I just hope the premier looks for municipalities in Ontario that are running a good, clean program,” Davidson said.
“And that he’s just not focusing on the GTA centres that are utilizing this in a different way then we are.”
County ASE updates
New automated speed enforcement data states 72 per cent of speeding infractions are made by drivers who live outside the county.
The report was shared at a county roads committee meeting on Sept. 9 and included data collected up to the end of August.
According to the report, the total number of penalty orders issued since the start of the trial ASE program is 201,873.
The majority of non-county resident infractions occurred on Wellington Road 24 (Trafalgar Road in Erin) at 83%.
Wellington Road 46 (Brock Road in Puslinch) follows at 73%.
The majority of county resident infractions took place on Wellington Road 6 (Sligo Road) in Mount Forest).
