Townships want more oversight over speed camera placement

The speed camera debate in Waterloo Region continues as the townships advocate for greater control over the placement of the devices.

Last year, Kitchener paused the speed camera program for city streets as it looked for more control. North Dumfries has chosen to go on its own, opting to use a third party to administer a speed camera program.

“Similar to the Region, the Region has contracted a company, we’ve contracted a municipality,” said North Dumfries Mayor, Sue Foxton, while a guest on The Mike Farwell Show.

“I think it’s Peel, they do this for a bunch of municipalities. They take care of everything, and it works great,” she added.

The main issue revolves around safety zones on rural arterial routes. The argument being that sudden and drastic speed reductions when entering the zones are, in themselves, highly dangerous.

As Foxton points out, these roads are what connect other areas of the province to the Highway 401 corridor.

“A lot of southwestern Ontario drives through North Dumfries to get to the 401,” she said, adding, “townships provide your major arterial roads to further destinations.”

Foxton isn’t opposed to speed cameras, she believes them to be a useful tool when used properly. She said she knows speed cameras are here to stay, so we all might as well get used to them.

“One thing to remember, when we put in seatbelt laws, there was outcry about that. When we did the smoking ban, there was outcry about that. I hoping that I will mellow with the speed cameras, I’m just terrified I’ll get caught.”