City councillor worries speed cameras being used as a cash grab

Installing speed cameras outside of school zones is meant to keep speeders in check on worrisome stretches of road, but one Ottawa city councillor thinks some of his colleagues see the cameras as a fundraising tool.

Under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, photo radar speed cameras are only authorized in school zones or designated community safety zones. Municipalities can, however, create new community safety zones in order to install cameras if they believe "public safety is of special concern."

The City of Ottawa announced 17 new speed camera locations last week, including 11 within school zones and two near parks and playgrounds. Four will be installed in areas where speeding is viewed as a problem.

Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley says he is worried the cameras are just as much for safety as they are for spending by his colleagues.

"I, like a whole lot of other people, [am] very concerned that there may be people around the council table that see this as a chance to grab a whole lot of money to fund whatever their special programs are that they want to fund," said Hubley.

The four new cameras installed away from schools or parks will be at:

• Hunt Club Road between Lorry Greenberg Drive and Pike Street. 
• Walkley Road between Harding Road and Halifax Drive.
• Montreal Road from Ogilvie Road to Foxborough Private to Bethamy Lane.
• King Edward Avenue between Cathcart and St. Patrick streets. 

Hubley said he supports more cameras in school zones, but he believes the pilot to expand them onto other city streets feeds into the cash-grab narrative.

"It's just purely a lot of speeders, so we're gonna make a lot of money," said Hubley.

Other councillors support cameras 

Gloucester-Southgate Ward Coun. Jessica Bradley, whose ward will include the Hunt Club Road camera, believes safety benefits of more speed cameras outweighs any other concerns.

"It's not feasible to have an Ottawa police officer at the corner every day," she said. "And so I think that this is one tool that the city has at its disposal to get that compliance."

Bradley said the stretch of road on Hunt Club has been a problem since access to Highway 417 opened about a decade ago.

"It's a busy place. But it's not just a thoroughfare, it is very much a street that the community uses," she said.

Bradley also said the goal of the camera program is "to encourage compliance", not to raise revenues.

Likewise, River ward Coun. Riley Brockington said he welcomes the camera coming to his ward, which is near Mooney's Bay park where there are many events, especially in the warmer months.

"At night in the summer, they literally become racetracks," he said. 

Brockington previously spoke before the provincial legislature at Queen's Park asking for the Ontario government to give municipalities permission to use the technology.  

"The provincial government has always been concerned that municipalities would abuse the technology, abuse the authority, and just have them everywhere," he said. "That's not the intent. We would never do that in Ottawa. We haven't done that with red light cameras."

Brockington said there is still restricted use of the speed cameras, and disagrees with Hubley they are cash grabs.

He said cities must tell motorists when they're entering a speed enforcement zone, and revenues raised can only go toward road safety initiatives.