It has been one week since speed camera programs across Ontario, including in Waterloo Region, were forced to shut down by Premier Doug Ford and the provincial government.
Over that time, progress has been made towards what the future of road safety could look like in their absence.
In a statement to 570 NewsRadio, the Region of Waterloo has said the cameras are no longer issuing Municipal Speed Camera tickets, but has stated that the cameras themselves will remain in place.
“The Region leases the cameras from the vendor and has provided the required 90 days’ notice to end the contract,” the region said. “The cameras will remain in place until that time.”
It added that, in that time, the cameras will still be put to use, saying “while images are no longer being captured, the cameras are temporarily helping the Region collect speed data, traffic, and busy times of day.”
For Guelph, the city said that, unlike Waterloo Region, its cameras have been taken down.
“Following the Ontario government’s repeal of the use of municipal speed cameras, the City of Guelph ended its automated speed enforcement program with 12 mobile speed cameras,” said Steve Anderson, Manager of Transportation Engineering with the City of Guelph. “All cameras were turned off by Nov. 14 and removed by Nov. 18.”
Now, like many other municipalities across the province, the city is beginning to look into other potential options that could aid in keeping its streets safe.
To aid in that effort, the Ontario government announced it would be doling out funds from a $210 million pool to regions all across the province, in the effort of making those steps and advances a bit easier for impacted areas.
Anderson said that, while those discussions are still in their adolescence, it has now been made clear just how much of that funding it’s slated to receive.
“As the city continues to prioritize road safety, we will receive $676,904 in immediate funding from the provincial Road Safety Initiatives Fund to support traffic-calming measures in school zones and community safety zones,” he said.
Due to the early stages of those talks, as well as it only being a week since those cameras were turned off, the specific details of what those traffic-calming measures could look like are still unknown.
It’s expected to consist of additional signs, raised crosswalks, speed bumps, flashing lights, and more, similar to options that Waterloo Region had already been experimenting with at various key intersections in Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener.
That includes the intersection of Erb Street West and Ira Needles Boulevard in Waterloo.
Alongside Guelph, the Region of Waterloo has also been told the number it will be receiving from that provincial pool.
“The Ontario government has provided the Region of Waterloo with an initial amount of $840,000 from the Road Safety Initiative Fund, with the ability to apply for more funding this year,” the region said.
It added that regional staff will be working to develop a plan for where those funds will go, noting that a full report on the future of those initiatives and the follow-up to those speed cameras being turned off will be brought forward to regional council early next year, currently eyeing a meeting in February.
During a recent committee meeting, the County of Wellington stated that it would be receiving $210,000 from the provincial Road Safety Initiatives Fund.
Similarly to the region, it noted that it intends to keep its 14 total cameras, with two in each of its seven school zones, to use for data collection on driver habits.
