Sudbury, Ont. to get 6 speed trap cameras by end of year

The city of Greater Sudbury says it's now on track to have its new speed enforcement cameras running by mid-November to early December.

The city will install six cameras, which use photo radar to track a vehicle's speed automatically, at roads where speeding has been identified as a problem.

Joe Rocca, the northern Ontario city's manager of transportation and innovation support, said staff took feedback from residents, and looked at traffic and speed data to make a ranked list where the cameras would be effective.

Rocca said the cameras are portable, and will be moved to different locations about every four months.

"One of the requirements of automated enforcement is that we post signs 90 days in advance to let people know that automated speed enforcement equipment is coming," he said.

Falconbridge Road, for example, currently has signs warning drivers a camera is coming.

Rocca said if someone drives over the posted speed limit the camera takes a photo of their licence plate and forwards the data to a processing centre, which reviews it and determines if an offence was committed or not.

Fines would be the same amounts as those imposed by police officers for speeding.

"So if you're going, say, 20 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit, every amount above the posted speed limit you're driving, you get a $5 fine per kilometre," he said.

"It's a little complex."

Rocca would not say what the speeding threshold will be before a driver is ticketed.

"What I've been telling people is it's not one kilometre per hour, but it's not 20 kilometres per hour either," he said.

"So there is a bit of a threshold there. But my best advice to everybody is just follow the posted speed limit and none of these things will be of concern to you."

Rocca said the city expects the cameras will generate around $1.1 million in revenue based on 20,000 tickets being issued and paid in the first year.

He added the cameras have been effective in other communities at reducing speeding, even after they are moved to other locations.

"The data shows it works really well, it's extremely effective and it helps. I think it's going to help shift the culture of people driving quickly on our residential roads," Rocca said.

The starting locations for the speed cameras will be:

• Bellevue Avenue (between Picard Street and Ralph Street)
• Algonquin Road (between Maurice Street and Field Street)
• Falconbridge Road (between Donnelly Drive and Church Street)
• Main Street, Val Caron (between Justin Street and M.R. 80)
• Hillcrest Drive (between Brian Street and Mikkola Road)
• Gary Avenue (between Lasalle Blvd and Madison Avenue)