Automated speed monitoring equipment is again abuzz in school zones in St. Albert.
All photo radar operations in the city were “temporarily suspended” by provider Global Traffic Group after the Alberta government announced it intends to slash the number of places it can occur provincewide effective April 1.
Red light cameras continued to operate but no other resources were deployed between Dec. 1 and 5.
The city is still working with the contractor on next steps, but photo radar resumed in school zones Friday, Dec. 6, according to a news release.
The city and St. Albert RCMP are “exploring options to increase traditional in-person speed enforcement.”
City staff continue to review “all impacts of the policy changes, including impacts to services and taxes,” and intend to work with the province, St. Albert RCMP and Global Traffic Group on automated traffic enforcement.
“Enforcement is a key tool to help keep our streets safe, but it is only one piece of the city’s overall traffic safety program, which also includes engineering, education and evaluation.”
Effective April 1, 2025, photo radar will be restricted to school, playground, and construction zones, and not allowed on any numbered provincial highway. Fixed intersection cameras will be restricted to red light enforcement only, and not allowed to issue “speed on green” tickets.
“We’re going to be struggling in St. Albert … because our contractor we use to help us manage that particular offence of speeding is going to struggle to make a business case,” Mayor Cathy Heron said at a council meeting earlier this week. “We might be out of all ATE sites including school and construction zones.”
The city collected $410,000 from automated tickets in 2023 according to a report, and the 2025 municipal budget anticipates that figure dropping to $85,000, according to Aaron Giesbrecht, manager of Policing Services at the city. But the mayor was more concerned about enforcement, particularly in school zones.
Staff Sgt. Dwayne Moore, interim St. Albert RCMP detachment commander, said the detachment has a dedicated traffic unit, but that it was one of those that has been understaffed “for a period of time.”
He said two positions that were “soft vacancies,” staffed by members who are off sick, would soon be declared “hard vacancies” that he can now move to fill.
“I’ll be working closely with (RCMP) staffing in order to fill those positions.”
He said the provincial government provided “very short notice” of the announcement.
“We were all caught off guard when that announcement came in late Friday,” Moore said. “We are working with the city to address those concerns.”
