Some ‘high-collision’ intersections in Alberta could be exempt from new photo radar rules, minister says

A photo radar enforcement sign is seen in Calgary, in this undated photo. (CTV News)

Alberta’s minister of transportation says exemptions can be made for municipalities requesting additional photo radar locations in “high-collision” areas, as long as they can back up their necessity with data.

Starting April 1, Alberta will be rolling out new rules for photo radar across the province, restricting locations to school, playground and construction zones.

Speaking Friday at an unrelated press conference, Devin Dreeshen, minister of transportation and economic corridors, said municipalities can apply for an exemption if they want a photo radar location outside of those three areas.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“To go into an intersection or an area in which there is an actual demonstrated high-collision area, and then they actually have the statistics to prove it,” Dreeshen said.

The minister emphasized that the photo radar spots need to be focused on traffic safety and not revenue generation.

If approved, the exempted radar locations will be subject to an audit every two years to review their effectiveness in reducing collisions.

In a statement, the Calgary Police Service said it is working through the draft proposed criteria presented by the Government of Alberta.

“When it comes to traffic enforcement, our priority is, and always has been, public safety,” police said.

“The locations we were in prior to the restrictions were all based on collision and speed data, as well as public concerns. Any future applications under the new guidelines will be based on the same principles.”

Earlier this week, Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld said he is interested in having photo radar at "high-collision" intersections in the city.

“I mean, it’s obviously very efficient for us to be able to use technology instead of officers to do enforcement in some of those locations where we can demonstrate that we’ve got a high number of collisions or speeds are very high,” Neufeld told CTV Morning Live on Tuesday.

The Calgary Police Service attributed a $28-million shortfall in its budget to the province’s decision to reduce photo radar locations.

Dreeshen said the province has reached out to municipalities to discuss the new guidelines coming into effect in just over two weeks.

When asked about whether some of those high-collision locations could be on provincial highways, the minister said the exemptions would be approved on a case-by-case basis based on traffic data but added that he has not seen any exemption requests come in yet.

As part of the process, the province expected to reduce the number of approved photo radar sites by 70 per cent.

All photo radar sites were removed from ring roads in Calgary and Edmonton in 2023.

More details to come…

With files from Alesia Fieldberg