GUELPH – Automated speed enforcement (ASE) operations officially ended in the county on Nov. 12 and much to councillor Andy Lennox’s disappointment, the county has received just $210,000 from the province for alternative road safety measures.
The county’s ASE one-year pilot program ran for 10 months before Premier Doug Ford’s government outlawed speed cameras across the province.
Seven cameras placed in county community safety zones generated just under $29.55 million in gross revenue from Jan. 15 to Nov. 12, purchasing and risk analyst Kelly-Ann Wingate told the Advertiser.
During that time, over 256,000 tickets were issued and the county’s share of revenue was about $11.2 million.
At an Oct. 14 meeting the county roads committed decided to spend $4 million in speed camera revenue on six county projects, none of them in community safety zones.
At a Nov. 27 council meeting Lennox said he is thankful for the provincial funds, but, “If the province thinks this problem is going to be solved with $210,000, I think they need a reality check.”
The county received a letter from the province on Nov. 13 stating the funds are to assist with immediate road safety needs, including temporary targeted enforcement resources, traffic calming measures and enhanced signage.
The newly launched Road Safety Initiatives Fund (RSIF) is slated to provide $210 million over the next two years for municipalities affected by the province’s decision.
“This initial money is just initial money and there is now an application that would allow you to apply for specific items,” Warden Chris White told council.
The final RSIF allocation for each municipality will be determined once the Ministry of Transportation has received and verified the required municipal information including:
- total ASE revenue
- where revenue has been allocated;
- formal application requesting remaining funds; and
- evidence-based initiatives in schools and community safety zones.
Remaining ASE funds
During the meeting councillors debated where the rest of the ASE funds should be allocated.
Councillors Diane Ballantyne, James Seeley, Gregg Davidson and Steve O’Neill agreed the funds should be used in community safety zones – specifically ones in which cameras were installed.
Ballantyne said it’s important for county residents to see “millions of dollars” being reinvested in community zones to increase visual cues for drivers to slow down.
“And maybe not all of the [safety zones] … we have the data to know the top three,” she added.
According to a Sept. 9 roads report, the top four ASE locations, in regards to the portion of speeding infractions occurring between 7am and 5pm, are:
- Sligo Road East in Mount Forest, 78 per cent;
- Wellington Street South in Drayton, 75%; and
- Belsyde Avenue East in Fergus and Main Street in Palmerston, tied at 67%.
Ballantyne also requested a more detailed plan on how the remaining ASE funds would be used.
Councillor Michael Dehn disagreed with his colleagues, stating, “We should look at the most dangerous places in the county regardless of these community safety zones. Let’s make this a safety issue and not a political issue.”
Councillor Earl Campbell noted there are many other community safety zones around the county, not just the seven that had speed cameras.
“We have four community safety zones [in Mapleton] … and as a local resident [the Drayton] community safety zone is no more important than the one in Goldstone, the one in Moorefield or the one on Wellington Road 86,” Campbell said.
Council received the roads committee ASE report for information.
The county will spend $275 per camera per month to continue to monitor vehicle speed data until Labour Day, using the cameras provided by Global Traffic Group.
“We have not confirmed with Global the exact timeline to collect data with their cameras,” county engineer Don Kudo told the Advertiser.
“We will use our own speed data collection devices if Global is not able to collect speed data until Labour Day.”
Officials say the cameras will not take pictures of vehicles.
