EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed other areas approved for photo radar use. Those areas are approved for red light cameras. Global News regrets the error.
Alberta’s overhaul to photo radar enforcement has officially taken effect, as Calgary’s police service prepares to apply for exemptions to problem intersections.
New regulations that took effect Tuesday prohibit photo radar on numbered provincial highways, and limit its use to school, playground and construction zones.
The “speed on green” function for intersection safety devices is also now prohibited to just red light enforcement.
The new rules reduce the number of sites where photo radar could be used by about 70 per cent — from 2,200 sites to just 650 across the province.
“This is something that has been a long time coming,” Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen told Global News.
“Albertans have wanted to know that the use of photo radar in the province was used for traffic safety and not for revenue generation for municipalities.”
However, red light cameras will still be allowed in areas with a higher frequency rate for collisions, injury and fatal collisions, relative to similar areas or intersections over a three-year period.
The regulations show red light cameras will also be allowed in areas that have had at least five collisions resulting in injuries or fatalities, or at least 15 property damage, injury or fatal collisions in the last three years.“
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“Albertans should have confidence knowing that photo radar used in school, construction and playground zones or in areas where there’s high collisions, that we all have a part to play to try to make sure that our roads are as safe as possible,” Dreeshen said. ”
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Municipalities request the province for an exemption to the photo radar restriction in high collision locations.
According to the province, applications for an exemption must include details of high-collision frequency and severity relative to similar locations, as well as details on “how other safety measures are not possible or will be ineffective.”
The exempted sites must also be required to undergo an audit every two years to assess the effectiveness of the enforcement.
“We know from the data that the automated traffic enforcement and the intersection safety devices, placed where they were in the city, was having a very positive effect,” said Calgary police chief Mark Neufeld.
“The result of that was less collisions, less severity of collisions, and less fatal collisions.”
Neufeld said the service’s enforcement is already in compliance with the new regulations, and police will monitor high collision intersections before applying for exemptions.
“It’s very difficult in some of those locations to do conventional enforcement with officers,” Neufeld said.
“A couple of weeks ago, one of our officers stopped a vehicle on Stoney Trail and ended up being struck from behind by an impaired driver.”
The province is instead encouraging municipalities to use traffic-calming measures with the creation of a fund to help upgrade roads and intersections “that pose demonstrated safety risks.”
The Traffic Safety Fund is set at $13 million over the next three years for the 25 municipalities that used photo radar devices.
“It’s not even a drop in the bucket. The drop evaporates before it hits the bucket, it’s nothing,” said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
According to council documents, the City of Calgary spends an average of $3 million per year on traffic calming through its Safety Improvements budget.
However, the city found unfunded traffic calming projects around schools is between $48 million and $97 million, with unbudgeted traffic calming projects citywide estimated to cost between $400 million and $600 million.
Dreeshen said the funding is meant for “engineering” on those roadways.
The Calgary Police Service said the new regulations have contributed to a $28-million shortfall in its budget moving forward.
City council voted to fill that gap with reserve funds for 2025, but Gondek said conversations are ongoing to determine how to make up the shortfall in the years to come.
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