Photo Radar Reduced in St. Paul

Council votes to reduce photo radar enforcement; will hold plebiscite vote in October

The Town of St. Paul has voted to reduce the number of hours photo radar traffic enforcement is conducted in the community. Along with that, there will be a public vote during the regular municipal election to determine if the public is in favour of the service. Mayor of St. Paul Glenn Andersen says when the service was first introduced in the community speeding was a big issue. Now, statistics show that speeding has been reduce, evident in the fact that Global Traffic Group, the third party photo radar contractor, has requested that service be reduced due to lack of activity.

“I would feel that I did my due diligence (as mayor) if the public decided that they no longer want.” Mayor Andersen explains that he has no issues with a petition brought forth asking for a plebiscite vote to determine if photo radar is wanted in the community.  The vote will be added to the October 2017 municipal election.

Councillor Ken Kwiatkowski echoed the Mayor’s sediments and added, “I would say the last two years, since we’ve had the service, the accident rate did go down some; event though there’s no proof of it being the photo radar. At the end of the day, stats are there.”

Norm Noel came to the concussion that if the contractor is asking for reduced time, “there’s not enough work there, that’s why they are requesting reduced hours.” The Town’s revenue from photo radar enforcement has decreased over the past two years, further proof that the service is effective in helping reduce speed, and in turn reduce accidents. To-date the Town has generates $38,000 in 2016 from the service, compared to 2015 (same time period) $55,000.

Money raised from photo radar go towards safety enhancements in the town, including pedestrian crosswalks. The Town is installing a crosswalk at the intersection of Highway 29 and Co-op Mall. With the reduced revenue from photo radar this year, the Town is $10,000 short of being able to pay for the lighted crosswalk. “The lights are going up, anyways,” confirms Mayor Andersen. The lights are expected to be up and operational within the next two weeks. The Town hopes to put up lights at 57th street and Highway 29 (Extra Foods & main street), next.

The Town is currently at 24 hours a week enforcement through Global Traffic Group. The contractor has requested to reduce that to 20 hours a week, 16 speed hours and 4 hours video enforcement. The Town voted and agreed to the reduction of hours. The contract for the new agreement is two years; however there are provisions for termination of the service, including a plebiscite vote.

December Photo Radar Locations