Photo radar coming to roads near 12 Ottawa schools
Kate Porter | CBC News | Posted: November 13, 2019 9:13 PM | Last Updated: November 27, 2019
Municipalities given green light to install technology to curb speeding
Photo radar is coming to roads near a dozen Ottawa schools, likely before the end of the year.
The Ontario government has given municipalities the green light to use the technology to curb speeding, but only within designated "community safety zones." There are four community safety zones in the city.
- Photo radar ready to roll in Ottawa
- Ford government asking public to weigh in on proposed photo radar changes
Once the city gets final details from the province, photo radar will be installed at the following eight locations:
- Watters Road, near St. Francis of Assisi School.
- Longfields Drive, near École élémentaire catholique Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, St. Mother Teresa High School and Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School.
- Bayshore Drive, near St. Rose of Lima School.
- Meadowlands Drive W., near St. Gregory School.
- Ogilvie Road, near Gloucester High School.
- Smyth Road, near Vincent Massey Public School, Hillcrest High School and École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité.
- Innes Road, near École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges.
- Katimavik Road, near Holy Trinity Catholic High School.
"Everything's ready to go, but it's a matter for waiting for the province to turn on the switch," said Phil Landry, director of traffic services.
To prepare for the pilot, the city staff studied 376 schools to compile data on how fast drivers are going, how many nearby collisions there have been and how many children walk to school.
"The focus here is to get the speeds down where the kids are walking to school," Landry said.
On Wednesday, some urban councillors questioned why none of the pilot locations is in the city core. Staff said it's because dense urban neighbourhoods can't accommodate the large signs that will warn motorists they're entering a community safety zone.
Staff will seek council's approval on Nov. 27 to erect the signs.
Once the pilot begins, the city will spend the remainder of the school year studying whether photo radar reduces speed at those eight locations, then prepare a plan for council next fall to prepare for a citywide rollout.
In the meantime, the city is encouraging the Ontario government to change the regulations to allow the cameras in all school zones, not just ones within community safety zones.