More Alberta municipalities scrapping photo radar in response to provincial restrictions

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News

· Posted: May 12, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The fig of municipalities utilizing photograph radar and red-light cameras successful Alberta has dropped by much than a 3rd since past year, according to figures from the province.

Seventeen municipalities, including Edmonton and Calgary, inactive person automated postulation enforcement programs — down from 26 past year. 

The provincial authorities announced successful December it would beryllium banning photograph radar connected each provincial highways and connectors, restricting its usage to school, playground and operation zones and nary longer allowing speed-on-green cameras at intersections.

The caller rules, which the authorities has framed arsenic "ending the photograph radar currency cow," came into effect connected April 1. 

Alberta Municipalities president and Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler Gandam said smaller section governments, including his own, person determined the cost of hiring a institution to tally automated enforcement present exceeds the benefits.

He said arsenic a result, municipalities are losing gross they erstwhile spent connected postulation information initiatives and are turning to constabulary and bid officers to enforce velocity limits instead. 

"Taking distant the automated postulation enforcement present puts much of a load connected our constabulary officers and our communities," Gandam said. 

Revenue losses

Getting escaped of photograph radar means giving up tens of thousands of dollars successful summons revenue.

Canmore expects to suffer $250,000, Edson astir $464,000 and Spruce Grove $600,000.

"It was ne'er astir the revenue," said Jeff Acker, Spruce Grove's mayor.

He said Spruce Grove, a tiny metropolis astir 30 kilometres westbound of Edmonton, introduced photograph radar 16 years agone aiming to reduce postulation collisions astatine intersections by 20 per cent. The instrumentality worked, helium said.

Now, due to the fact that of the caller provincial rules, Spruce Grove can nary longer usage photograph radar astatine its astir unsafe places.

Municipalities wanting to re-engineer intersections to trim collisions tin use for a caller postulation information money successful September. 

The provincial money volition person $1 cardinal disposable successful the adjacent fiscal year, $2 cardinal successful 2026-27 and $10 cardinal successful 2027-28.

Speeding already up: town policing manager

Some municipal governments person decided that contempt the restrictions, they tin spend to support utilizing automated enforcement tools.

Mark Anderson, manager of assemblage policing successful Coaldale, astir 18 kilometres northeast of Lethbridge, said the municipality tin bash truthful due to the fact that it owns instrumentality already and doesn't person to pay another company.

But losing the quality to summons speeding road drivers, 70 per cent of whom did not unrecorded successful town, Anderson said, takes $400,000 retired of the town's budget.

He's already noticing much speeding connected Highways 3 and 845.

"They're conscionable ripping done present again," Anderson said.

Safety fears

Debbie Hammond, enforcement manager of Safer Roads Alliance, a non-profit funded by the lipid and state industry, said she fears photograph radar's disappearance volition pb to much crashes and fatalities.

"Removing this exertion is decidedly going to hinder our way forward," she said. 

Karim El-Basyouny, a proscription engineering prof astatine the University of Alberta, told CBC News successful September that assorted studies and evaluations bespeak automated velocity enforcement, including photograph radar, tin efficaciously alteration speeding and related postulation violations.

"I'm ethically obligated to talk connected this issue," helium said successful an email. 

"Every beingness mislaid connected our roads is simply a preventable tragedy, and it is our corporate work to advocator for policies that prioritize information and adhere to the evidence-based practices that person been proven to prevention lives."

Hammond said she urges the provincial authorities to reconsider recent restrictions.

In an emailed statement, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen said the authorities is "following done connected its committedness to reconstruct nationalist spot successful automated postulation enforcement" by removing sites that don't intelligibly amended nationalist safety. 

Under the province's caller guidelines, municipalities whitethorn taxable concern cases to petition exemptions, but Dreeshen said nary municipality has done so.

The caller guidelines necessitate municipalities to taxable months of caller information and amusement that different information measures, similar velocity bumps oregon flashing signs, bash not work.

Gandam said immoderate communities whitethorn determine to inquire for exemptions aft reviewing data, but Acker doesn't deliberation Spruce Grove volition beryllium 1 of them.

He said the metropolis is not assured it could find a institution to behaviour enforcement astatine acold less locations, bringing enforcement in-house would beryllium excessively costly and applying for exemptions would load administrative staff. 

Acker and officials from different municipalities told CBC News they are implementing and exploring different ways of addressing postulation safety, done velocity bounds reductions, much patrols by RCMP and bid officers, intersection plan changes and targeted traffic-calming measures successful areas wherever drivers speed. 

Hammond said determination are galore strategies to amended roadworthy safety, but they tin beryllium expensive, truthful she recommends municipalities spouse with different groups to find resources and enactment unneurotic connected solutions.

"Communities truly person to privation that and advocator for it," she said.