From https://www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news/municipalities-transit-and-infrastructure/ontario-announces-210m-road-safety-fund-in-lieu-of-speed-cameras-11484917 (behind paywall).
The speed cameras have been shut down as of today. Let traffic chaos ensue. The province has attempted to soften the blow by setting aside $210 million to help municipalities to “pay for speed bumps, raised crosswalks and costs of increased police enforcement in school and community safety zones”. $42 million is “immediate funding”.
Transportation Minister once again called the speed cameras “cash grabs” and “making life more expensive for drivers”. So instead of a speed cameras, we’ll have police officers handing out speeding tickets. Somehow that is less expensive.
As Ontario Big City Mayors chair Marianne Meed Ward, mayor or Burlington, says, speed cameras make speeders pay for road safety initiatives. Now that onus will be on all taxpayers. Poor speeding drivers are let off the hook (unless they’re stopped by police officers) and the rest of us pay.
Ward goes on to mention that the fund is just a drop in the bucket: “And I can tell you that $210 million one-time money is not going to be enough for the ongoing traffic concerns across the province of Ontario,” she said.
I can imagine that installing speed bumps or roundabouts in these locations will be much more expensive than installing speed cameras. And the process for funding and building infrastructure cannot happen overnight. It could take years. And even then, Ford’s proposed safety measures of speed bumps and roundabouts are inappropriate for major roads. And the alternatives, such as flashing signs, are ineffective.
Burlington was planning to install its first six speed cameras this fall. “We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars leading up to this to study where these should go, where (they are) most needed, where other measures have been tried or failed or are completely inappropriate, such as speed bumps on busy major thoroughfares — can’t do that,” she said.
The Ford government, however, has unburdened itself from expensive studies and fact-gathering. It rules by gut. And the children will suffer.
Does not do anything to curb speeding and bad driving behaviour on roadways other than in front of schools. Government refuses to increase fines and consequences as that would be a ‘cash grab’. Welcome to a world where speed limits and traffic laws are just a suggestion.