6 speed cameras in Sudbury, Ont., go live today

The City of Greater Sudbury is turning on its six new speeding cameras on Friday.

Drivers who speed when passing the radar cameras will get a ticket in the mail a few weeks later, with a fine based on how fast they were going.

A driver going 5 km/h over the posted speed limit would get a $40 fine, for example, while someone driving 25 km/h over the limit would be fined $170.

Joe Rocca, Sudbury's director of linear infrastructure, said the city expects the cameras to generate about $1 million in annual revenue that will be reinvested into road safety initiatives. 

"But at the end of the day, this program really is about improving road safety throughout the community," he said.

Rocca could not say what the speed threshold would be for someone to be ticketed.

"You could be one kilometre per hour over and a police officer could pull you over," he said.

"Today, the message we want residents to get is just drive the posted speed limit."

Rocca said the cameras will be moved to new locations every few months.

The first six locations will be:

• Bellevue Avenue (between Picard Street and Ralph Street).
• Algonquin Road (between Maurice Street and Field Street).
• Falconbridge Road (between Donnelly Drive and Church Street).
• Main Street, Val Caron (between Justin Street and MR 80).
• Hillcrest Drive (between Brian Street and Mikkola Road).
• Gary Avenue (between Lasalle Blvd and Madison Avenue).

The locations are based on historical speeding data and areas where the city has received complaints about speeding, or requests for traffic calming measures.

"We put together a pretty long list of over 40 locations that would benefit from automated speed enforcement being installed," Rocca said.

He added the city expects some cameras will be vandalized, but is prepared if that happens.

"We've seen it in other communities. There's no doubt about it," he said.

"Our vendor who operates and maintains those for us is prepared for that kind of activity to happen."

Mixed reactions

Aliyah Whalen regularly drives and walks her dog along Gary Avenue, one of the first streets to get the cameras.

She said she was confused as to why the street would be one of the first to get a speed camera.

"I don't really know where the problem is, at least not on the street," Whalen said.

"I've seen it around town, but definitely not here."

Whalen said she worries she might be ticketed if she's going 5 km/h over the speed limit and doesn't notice.

"I look down and it's very easy to go five over."

But Mark Palkovits said people use Gary Avenue "like a freeway sometimes."

He said the street does need traffic-calming measures, but he wasn't sure a speed camera was the best way to go about it.

"I think, you know, there's other ways to slow the traffic down instead of just hitting everybody in their pocketbook."

Nituj Bhardwaj said he welcomes the new speed camera on Gary Avenue.

"It's good," he said.  "People drive fast all the time over here, so I think the camera should help."