Councillors back photo radar but question locations
Say residents will be ‘disillusioned and disappointed’ with road selection in year-long pilot project
City councillors have approved a photo radar project in Hamilton, but are puzzled that speedways generating resident complaints have been left off the location list.
The year-long pilot involving two camera units rotating through 12 spots in the city is meant to gauge how effectively automated speed enforcement (ASE) curbs speeding. Coun. Tom Jackson applauded the arrival of ASE in general, but questioned why a stretch of Stone Church Road East from Dartnall to Pritchard — with no nearby schools, subdivisions or parks — was at the top of the list. Conversely, not including Mountainbrow Boulevard — which meanders through residential
areas, parks and trails — will be a letdown for some constituents, the east Mountain councillor said during Wednesday’s public works meeting.
“They will be disillusioned and disappointed to see that the brow just didn’t make the top 12.”
Coun. Chad Collins also asked staff why “hot spots” in Ward 5 like Queenston Road, Lake Avenue and Beach Boulevard didn’t make the cut. “Most of the streets that are problematic are not on this list.” Likewise, Coun. Nrinder Nann noted residents will be
“quite surprised” that stretches of Main and King Street East that hem in neighbourhoods in Ward 3 weren’t included.
Transportation operations director Edward Soldo said staff scored 75 potential locations based on “data-driven” criteria.
Characteristics like traffic volume, vehicle speed, pedestrian traffic and crash history were taken into account. “All the locations that we had were run through that evaluation process,” Soldo said.
Some locations, however, weren’t evaluated due to COVID-19-imposed staff limitations, he noted.
The 12 locations — in specially designated community safety and school zones — are meant to evaluate how effective a wider ASE program would be, Soldo said.
If schools don’t reopen in September because of the virus, the next highest-ranked location that isn’t a school zone could be included in the pilot, which starts this year.
As well, more streets could be included in a wider ASE program in consultation with councillors once the pilot ends.
These are the stretches involved in the pilot:
> Stone Church Road East from Dartnall Road to Pritchard Road;
> Broker Drive from Brentwood Drive to Kingslea Drive;
> Glancaster Road from Rymal Road to Twenty Road; á Trinity Church Road from Guyatt Road to Dickenson Road;
> 2nd Street North from Charles Street to King Street West;
> Greenhill Avenue from Quigley Road to Mount Albion Road;
> Lawrence Road from Gage Avenue South to Ottawa Street South;
> Lawrence Road from Cochrane Road to Mount Albion Road;
> Harvest Road in Dundas from Tews Lane to Forest Avenue;
> Bellagio Drive from Fletcher Road to Keystone Crescent;
> Lewis Road from Barton Street East to Highway 8;
á Main Street in Waterdown from Parkside Road to John Street.
ASE signs will go up to warn drivers before enforcement periods. Fines issued in community safety zones are double the normal amount.
Coun. Lloyd Ferguson said some residents would view speed cameras as a “cash grab.”
Soldo said staff don’t expect the pilot project to be “revenue positive.”
Coun. John-Paul Danko said the point isn’t making money, but community safety.