'Not a cash grab’: City talks speed cameras at open house

Dozens of Sault residents with questions and concerns about automatic speed enforcement cameras took part in an open house at the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre on Wednesday.

Automatic speed enforcement (ASE) systems use a camera and speed measurement device to help enforce speed limits. In Sault Ste. Marie, it is planned that the systems will be used in school zones and community safety zones.

Dozens of residents attended an information session in the main lobby of the Civic Centre on Wednesday to quiz city staff on the proposed project that could launch in 2025 — if it's approved in the next city budget.

Lynn and Don Shushkewich live in the extreme west end of the city and had questions for city staff about the proposed roll out of ASE systems. As grandparents and avid cyclists, the couple has a vested interest in having safer streets and presented a number of questions to city staff.

"We were interested in the impacts and on the community," said Don. "There is a certain percentage of drivers that are aggressive. Is this just gonna piss them off more and make them more aggressive instead of calmer, or will it have the intended effect over time by punishing people and correcting their behaviours?"

The couple spent some time during the open house speaking with Dan Perri, the city's director of Public Works and Engineering Services.

"It's interesting to come out to things like this because you have access to the people who might be able to answer the questions," said Lynn.

Perri told SooToday the purpose of the open house is to hear feedback from residents, while at the same time offering staff an opportunity to address those concerns.

One comment was in response to the estimated $1.2 million the ASE systems is expected to bring in from tickets, but most of that revenue will be offset by the costs of operating the program.

"First and foremost the focus is public safety and roadway safety," said Perri. "There is a revenue component associated with it, but our goal is to try to stay revenue neutral, if possible."

If a car is observed by the ASE to be speeding, a ticket will be issued to the owner of the vehicle along with a photo of the infraction, with a zoomed in view of the licence plate. That means it is possible some tickets will be issued to someone who was not driving the vehicle. Because of this, no speeding tickets issued by the ASE will come with drivers licence points deductions.

If the revenue from your speeding tickets is greater than the cost of running the program, the city says it will apply those funds to other road improvement projects.

Some residents were also concerned about potential vandalism, like incidents already reported in Sudbury. Perri said there is a plan for that.

"The lease agreement with the ASE equipment provider includes repair or replacement of damaged or vandalized equipment," said Perri.

Ward 1 councillor Sandra Hollingsworth was also in attendance at Wednesday's open house. For years, she has been a member of the city's speeding task force. 

"I very much support this [program], but what I want to make sure is that we're doing it correctly," she said.

Hollingsworth noted that Wednesday's meeting was well attended and chalked it up to the information postcards the city delivered to promote the open house.

"They should have been doing that for other public open houses on all sorts of topics over the last number of years," she said.

Residents who want to provide feedback for the proposed ASE program but were unable to attend the open house can do so on this web site.