Some ‘high-collision’ intersections in Alberta could be exempt from new photo radar rules, minister says

The province announced major restrictions to photo radar late last year but is now discussing possible exemptions with municipalities.

Alberta’s minister of transportation says exemptions can be made for municipalities requesting additional photo radar locations in “high-collision” areas, as long as they can back up their necessity with data.

Starting April 1, Alberta will be rolling out new rules for photo radar across the province, restricting locations to school, playground and construction zones.

Speaking Friday at an unrelated press conference, Devin Dreeshen, minister of transportation and economic corridors, said municipalities can apply for an exemption if they want a photo radar location outside of those three areas.

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“To go into an intersection or an area in which there is an actual demonstrated high-collision area, and then they actually have the statistics to prove it,” Dreeshen said.

The minister emphasized that the photo radar spots need to be focused on traffic safety and not revenue generation.

If approved, the exempted radar locations will be subject to an audit every two years to review their effectiveness in reducing collisions.

In a statement, the Calgary Police Service said it is working through the draft proposed criteria presented by the Government of Alberta.

“When it comes to traffic enforcement, our priority is, and always has been, public safety,” police said.

“The locations we were in prior to the restrictions were all based on collision and speed data, as well as public concerns. Any future applications under the new guidelines will be based on the same principles.”

Earlier this week, Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld said he is interested in having photo radar at "high-collision" intersections in the city.

“I mean, it’s obviously very efficient for us to be able to use technology instead of officers to do enforcement in some of those locations where we can demonstrate that we’ve got a high number of collisions or speeds are very high,” Neufeld told CTV Morning Live on Tuesday.

The Calgary Police Service attributed a $28-million shortfall in its budget to the province’s decision to reduce photo radar locations.

Dreeshen said the province has reached out to municipalities to discuss the new guidelines coming into effect in just over two weeks.

When asked about whether some of those high-collision locations could be on provincial highways, the minister said the exemptions would be approved on a case-by-case basis based on traffic data but added that he has not seen any exemption requests come in yet.

While some have worried the photo radar changes could force municipalities to raise taxes to cover costs, one Calgary councillor doesn’t think it needs to limit police hiring.

“I’m sure they can find some savings in there just like everybody else. It’s key for the city to find efficiencies, not to raise taxes, and Calgary Police Services, they should be able to do this as well,” said Dan McLean.

Calgary’s police chief said the photo radar locations CPS used prior to the restrictions were already based on collision, speed data and public concerns.

“It really comes down to the question of what is going to comprise the guideline and what we’re going to need to do to demonstrate that case,” said Neufeld.

Under the new guidelines, the province gets to decide.

“Municipalities can make exemptions submitted to provincial government; if we obviously agree with that, then the photo radar could be used in that location,” said Dreeshen.

As part of the process, the province expected to reduce the number of approved photo radar sites by 70 per cent.

All photo radar sites were removed from ring roads in Calgary and Edmonton in 2023.