This isn’t a rant about photo radar. It is a rant about photo radar at a specific location during specific times and just to be clear, I have never received a photo radar ticket at this location.
Sometime last spring the City of St Albert began posting photo radar vehicles on the south end of Deerbourne Drive. For those that aren’t familiar with Deerbourne Drive it is a road that loops around a fairly large park as well as many homes in the Deer Ridge neighbourhood. On the north end of the park is a playground, on the south end is a basketball court and it has open fields scattered with trees in-between.
Because portions of Deerbourne Drive run next to the park the speed limit is posted at 30 km/h and I have absolutely no problem with that. In spite of that excellent visibility and a sidewalk that is set a much greater distance than usual from the road it is still a park where children occasionally play. What I do have a problem with are the days and times that photo radar vehicles are parked here. They are usually parked in this location on school days, all day, when kids are in school. There aren’t even any schools close to this park.
If safety is the primary reason for photo radar then why patrol this location on school days? Surely there are school zones that would benefit far greater from photo radar than this location does.
Dan Schykulski, St. Albert
