Drayton Valley residents say no to photo radar

The Town of Drayton Valley has scrapped its photo radar program after putting the debate to a public vote.

“The public expressed themselves very clearly, at least the public that showed up at the polls did,” Drayton Valley Mayor Glenn McLean said Monday. “Fair enough, that’s democracy, so we acted swiftly.”

McLean said when he was knocking on doors as part of his campaign for mayor in 2013, “the desire for photo radar is the most frequently occurring issue that people raised with me and with us. It was based on that input that council in 2014 decided to introduce photo radar.”

The program wasn’t implemented until May, 2015, but soon after, public perception of the program seemed to shift dramatically.

“There may have been an obvious difference between supporting the concept and supporting the physical manifestation of enforcement. Those are two different things,” said McLean.

After town council heard vocal opinions on both sides of the issue, they took advantage of a byelection Feb. 27 to put the debate on a ballot.

Of 1,070 people who voted on the issue, 785 said they did not support the use of automatic traffic enforcement at red lights or stop signs, and 746 said they did not support the continuation of automatic enforcement of speed limits.

“It was almost three-quarters against on each question,” said McLean, adding that council was trying to get a clear result of whether or not the public supported the automatic traffic enforcement program and “we certainly got that.”

On March 9, town council voted to terminate the automatic traffic enforcement program before April 30.

While supporters felt the program made streets safer, said McLean, opponents criticized it as a “cash cow” and disagreed with the “tactics” used by the operators to catch speeders.

McLean said calling Drayton Valley’s program a “cash cow” is unfair, as proceeds from the program did not go into the town’s general revenues and were instead earmarked for traffic safety infrastructure and a grant program for local initiatives that promoted safe and healthy communities.

Between May, 2015, and February, 2017, McLean said the program’s net proceeds for the town were $374,000, with a cut going to the automatic traffic enforcement provider and another to the province.

As for how Drayton Valley will enforce speed limits going forward, McLean said councillors have been in contact with local RCMP and are considering enhancing police presence around schools and playgrounds and investing in trafficcalming infrastructure.

While McLean himself disagrees with the decision, he said he respects the will of the public.

“People have a right to change their minds,” McLean said, adding those who supported the automated traffic enforcement program were given a fair chance to be heard.

“Decisions are made by those that show up,” he said. “If you do not show up and express your views, they will not be counted.”

The public expressed themselves very clearly, at least the public that showed up at the polls did.