Hamilton politicians continue to pursue the idea of photo radar on the Lincoln Alexander Expressway (LINC) and Red Hill Valley Parkway.
Members of the city’s public works committee have voted 9-1 to ask the province to designate the LINC and Red Hill as “Community Safety Zones” under the criteria set out in Bill 65, Ontario’s Safer School Zones Act.
Ward 4 Coun. Sam Merulla says the designation would allow for the use of photo radar on the city roads, and is part of his ongoing bid to reduce the number of collisions that result from “excessive speed.”
Merulla says “conspiracy theories are developed that something is wrong with the design of the road or that something is wrong with the pavement.”
He insists that drivers don’t look at themselves as being part of the solution.
Ward 14 Coun. Terry Whitehead agrees that photo radar is “a tool whose time has come” since we can’t put a police officer at every intersection.
The city’s request could lead to a future debate about lowering the speed limits on the LINC and Red Hill from 90 km/h since provincial rules restrict community safety zones to roads with speed limits of 80 km/h or lower.
Another concern, within the staff report before committee members on Monday, is that photo radar would result in 13,000 tickets each day per location — too many for the provincial offences courts to handle based on current staffing levels.
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