The City of Belleville is looking to use cameras to catch speeders in its Community Safety Zones.
Ten Community Safety Zones – residential areas near schools that have increased fines for speeding and other violations – were established earlier this year.
The city then monitored each zone for multiple days to analyze traffic and found the average speed in each zone was anywhere from six to 20 km over the 40 km/hr speed limit.
At Tuesday’s meeting, city council will be asked to give pre-budget approval for $327,200 for the creation of an Automated Speed Enforcement Program that would initially involve four cameras that would rotate through the Community Safety Zones.
The average camera location is expected to charge and change the behaviour of 12 motorists per day, per camera.
City staff are recommending partnering with the City of Toronto which has extensive experience with ASE.
The cameras are designed to follow traditional speed enforcement however the ASE threshold speed to trigger a fine is not being made public.
This is standard practice across the province.
The fines for speeding in a Community Safety Zone are double and are as follows:
– 1 to 19 km over the limit is $5.00 per kilometer over, plus costs
– 20 to 29 km over the limit is $7.50 per kilometer over, plus costs
– 30 to 49 km over the limit is $12.00 per kilometer over, plus costs
It is expected to take about six months to fully implement the program and it is anticipated an education campaign will help reduce speeding prior to full implementation.
Belleville Council meets Tuesday at 4 p.m. at City Hall.
