Variable flashing lights will remain under cover in Barrie’s speed camera zones, the province has decided.
Barrie asked Ontario’s Transportation Ministry (MTO) earlier this year if it could use both flashing lights and automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras in community safety zones near city schools.
The flashing lights warn drivers the speed limit is dropping to 40 kilometres an hour from 50 km/h on a stretch of city street.
Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act, however, prohibits the city from operating ASE cameras and flashing 40 kilometres per hour speed limit lights in school zones at the same time.
The city asked to be exempt from that regulation, but found out Wednesday it has been denied.
Drivers have repeatedly told BarrieToday it’s unfair not to warn drivers of a lowered speed limit, especially since the lights are right there, but covered with black bags, in stretches of street where the speed cameras are in use.
Barrie’s Gorden MacBain said he doesn’t understand the province’s decision.
“I find the whole ASE program redundant unless the flashing lights are retained,” he said.
“In my opinion, not having the lights creates the problem of drivers having to read a complicated sign and being distracted or unaware of the speed limit which in turn makes it more dangerous for the students," said MacBain.
“I know that turning the lights off when cameras are present is a provincial ruling and I still can’t, for the life of me, understand the reasoning behind it.”
The MTO says once ASE was introduced, reduced speed school zone signs were allowed so municipalities could determine the allowable speeds, dependent on the time of day, week or month.
School area warning signs can still be used as required where ASE is being proposed in a school zone that is also designated as a community safety zone, school zone signs may not include the use of flashing signals, said an MTO official.
This helps reduce the risk of individual error and discrepancy between the posted limits and times determined by schools. The rules for signing need to be applied consistently throughout the province and changing sign requirements for one community does not provide a consistent approach for drivers and other road users, the MTO said.
In a letter to Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, Mayor Alex Nuttall said Barrie residents are concerned that the flashing lights have been removed from school zones where the ASE cameras are operating.
Nuttall did not dispute the MTO’s answer.
“Community safety is of utmost importance to this council,” he said. “We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders, such as the (MTO), to ensure all traffic safety measures are effectively utilized, with a focus on slowing down traffic in our community safety zones, and areas where our children play.”
Council has taken steps to make drivers more aware of the ASE cameras zones.
In June, it approved the installation of two 'Speed Camera In Use' signs in each direction of an ASE camera, taking into consideration locating the signs at roadways or near the camera locations, so that drivers will be better warned when entering the areas of speed-camera locations.
And as part of the 2025 budget, councillors will consider the installation of a second set of school zone signs and the school time speed limit signs for each of Barrie’s community safety zones, where the automated speed cameras will be operated on main arterial roads that are two lanes in width, with characteristics similar to the south end of Essa Road and other roadways that are four lanes wide.
Staff are also preparing an intake form requesting in-road flexible speed signs and any additional poly bollards required for school zones throughout the city, again for the next city budget.
In January, by direct motion, council changed what’s called the city’s rates of speed bylaw. Enforcement times will move to 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, Sept. 1 to June 30 at the speed camera and variable times zones, or basically when students are in school.
Barrie’s ASE cameras are rotated to different community safety zones every few months. Municipal Speed Camera in Use signs are installed when cameras are active and tickets are being issued.
The cameras are southbound on Leacock Drive, near St. Mary's Catholic School, and eastbound on Cundles Road East near St. Joseph's Catholic High School and Frère-André Catholic Elementary School.
The ASE cameras are being moved again soon, city staff said, to westbound on Little Avenue, near Assikinack Public School, and southbound on Prince William Way near Saint Gabriel the Archangel Catholic School.
Barrie’s ASE cameras were first located eastbound on Big Bay Point Road, near Willow Landing and St. Michael the Archangel Catholic elementary schools, and southbound on Anne Street North, near Portage View and Nouvelle-Alliance schools, from last Dec. 1 until Feb. 18.
ASE cameras were then catching speeders northbound Essa Road near Timothy Christian School, and westbound on Ardagh Road in the vicinity of Heritage Baptist Church, beginning at the end of February.
Council also approved a June motion that the city lease two more ASE cameras, which will give Barrie four instead of two speed-camera zones for ticketing, as each location requires one camera. The cost of leasing two more cameras will be funded through city revenue from the ASE program. Nuttall said the two additional ASE cameras are scheduled for installation this fall.
ASE is a system that uses a camera and a speed-measuring device to detect and capture images of the licence plates of vehicles travelling faster than the posted speed limit in school or community safety zones.
Fines go into Provincial Offences Court revenues for the municipality where the charges are laid, in this case Barrie, and are treated no differently than the charges that would be laid by a police service.
The speeding penalty is a fine, but tickets issued through ASE don’t result in demerit points. The fine is based on by how much the driver is exceeding the speed limit, a threshold the city doesn’t not reveal. The city has said ASE speeding tickets are mailed to the vehicle’s owner within 23 days after the violation occurs.
Barrie’s cameras are being rotated through different community safety zones every few months, and there are plenty of choices.
The city has 27 community safety zones. They are established by council through a bylaw, and cover road areas where there is a higher risk to, or concern for, drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and/or others who use these spaces.
Highway Traffic Act fines, including speeding, are doubled in community safety zones and many community safety zones are located close to schools. Barrie has 81 sections of road designated as community safety zones in accordance with the community safety zones bylaw.
