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Photo radar cameras catch thousands of speeders during snowy Ottawa winter

A photo radar camera in Ottawa. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa) A photo radar camera in Ottawa. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa)
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The snowy weather did not slow down drivers on Ottawa roads last winter, with photo radar cameras catching thousands of drivers speeding in school and community safety zones.

Statistics show the 17 automated speed enforcement cameras across the city of Ottawa issued 15,887 tickets in January and February.  Nine photo radar cameras issued 6,650 tickets over the same period in 2022.

The photo radar camera on Fisher Avenue, between Deer Park Road and Kintyre Private, issued 2,576 tickets in the first two months of the year – the most of any camera.

The photo radar camera on St. Laurent Boulevard, between Noranda Avenue and Clarke Avenue, issued 2,497 tickets, while the camera on Alta Vista Drive, between Ayers Avenue and Ridgemont Avenue issued 1,317 tickets.

Ottawa received 172.3 cm of snow in January and February, with at least 10 cm of snow falling on eight of the days.

The 17 photo radar cameras caught another 9,426 drivers in December when Ottawa received 96 cm of snow.

The city of Ottawa plans to install 23 new cameras at locations across Ottawa this year, bringing the total to 40 by the end of 2023. Of the 23 cameras set to be installed, 17 are near schools and four will be placed along higher-speed roads – Hunt Club Road, Walkley Road, Montreal Road and King Edward Avenue.

The city of Ottawa launched the Automated Speed Enforcement Camera program in July 2020, with cameras initially installed in eight school zones. All revenue generated from the program supports Ottawa's Road Safety Action Plan, which focuses on making roads safer for all users.

The 17 automated speed enforcement cameras issued a total of 127,939 speeding tickets in 2022.

Council will vote Wednesday on a proposal to spend $2 million to create a new processing centre to deal with the volume of tickets from photo radar cameras. Right now, photo radar speeding tickets issued in Ottawa are all processed at a joint processing centre in Toronto, which is dealing with an increased load from across the province.

The tickets must be processed within 23 days, but in 2022, only two-thirds of Ottawa photo radar tickets were processed within the time limit. The Toronto centre has capped the number of tickets it will process from Ottawa this year at 250,000.

Red light cameras

Red light cameras caught thousands of drivers running red lights during the first two months of the year.

Statistics on the city of Ottawa's open data show 6,811 tickets were issued by red light cameras in January and February.

The red light camera at King Edward Avenue at St. Patrick issued 497 tickets in the first two months of the year, while the camera at King Edward and St. Andrew issued 429 tickets.

Ottawa has 85 red light cameras set up at intersections across the city.

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