Alberta reannounces plans to reduce number of photo radar sites

Cutting photo radar sites CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski reports on the province's announcement about severely curbing the amount of photo radar sites in Alberta.

Alberta reannounced plans to reduce photo radar sites in the province on Monday.

In June, the United Conservative government announced it would reduce the number of photo radar sites in the province by 80-to-90 per cent, a move officials said would bring the province in line with the rest of the country.

Right now, Alberta has 2,400 photo radar locations, while other provinces have between 200 and 400.

"Albertans can be confident that photo radar will only be used to improve traffic and roadside worker safety and not to make money," Devin Dreeshen, minister of transportation, said in a news release on Monday.

Starting April 1, photo radar will be removed on numbered provincial highways and will only be allowed in school, playground and construction zones.

Speed cameras will also be removed from all red-light cameras across the province, although red-light cameras will remain.

Municipalities will also be able to increase the number of red-light cameras if they so choose.

The province says municipalities will be able to request additional photo radar locations on a case-by-case basis for high collision locations where other safety measures can't be implemented.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says taking photo radar away means the city will have to spend more on police officers to do traffic enforcement.

"(We would) have to have police officers do that enforcement," Sohi said after the announcement in June. "That means we will have to hire more police officers, which means a tax levy increase."

Police have also decried the changes.

“Doing traffic enforcement through the use of technology and innovation is going to be taken away from us,” Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh with the Lethbridge Police Service said in September.

“(In) the end, we can only see bad drivers continue what they’re doing and if there's no consequence for them, they're going to do more of it.”

"We're very concerned that this decision is going to actually erode traffic safety and our ability to keep Albertans and Calgarians safe on the roads," Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said in an interview with CTV News Calgary in October.