Photo radar coming to Gatineau, but locations to be decided

Photo radar is coming to the City of Gatineau in the fall, but Gatineau mayor Maxime Pednaud-Jobin says he wants more input into where the province puts the machines.

Quebec has been piloting the devices, which photograph the license plate of a vehicle speeding or running a red light, and plans to rotate about three dozen of them at 170 locations across the province.

The first photo radar units are scheduled to be installed in the fall.

Maxime Pednaud-Jobin says the focus is to cut down on speeding.

"That they're used in areas where there are accidents, where there is danger," said Pednaud-Jobin. "The goal is not to get more money, the goal is to have safer streets."

The project is being led by the Quebec government, with municipalities "invited" to participate.

That means the province gets a portion of the revenue generated, and provincial officials have the final say on where the units are set up.

Pednaud-Jobin says that is a problem.

"We have the expertise, we know the roads, our police officers do that since quite a while," he said. "Everybody would win if instead of ruling this from Quebec City it would be done locally."

A previous iteration of the plan had looked at 28 locations in the city, including Maloney Boulevard near Highway 50, Maisonneuve Boulevard between Laurier Avenue and Sacré-Couer Boulevard and Aylmer Road between Vanier Road and Lucerne Boulevard.