City wants nearly $28M to replace speed cameras with new safety measures in Brampton

The City of Brampton is asking the province for nearly $28 million in additional funding for road safety measures like speed bumps and signs to replace now-banned automated speed cameras.

The use of ASE cameras was banned across Ontario in November, with Premier Doug Ford calling the system “a money grab” despite data from Brampton City Council showing the program resulted in slower driving habits.

The program was scrapped just weeks after Brampton finished a years-long expansion of its automated speed camera program in favour of massive light-up road signs and “traffic calming projects,” like speed bumps.

Ontario has already shelled out nearly $7 million to the city through the Road Safety Initiative Fund, and city staff have assessed 141 school zone locations across the city for the new signage and speed cushion design, according to a city report.

Over 30 of the 141 school zones will have oversized signage, with 30 of approximately 400 signs installed as of April 24. The large, oversized signs will require some $12,400 in annual maintenance, the report says. Nearly 80 new speed cushions are also coming to Brampton school zones.

But the city is asking the province for another $27.96 million “for other traffic calming implementations, including pilot opportunities for emerging school-zone safety technologies.”

One such proposed pilot could bring high-visibility, light-up LED crosswalks like those made by Canadian company SmartCrossing to Brampton.

City staff have been instructed to explore bringing in-ground, light-up crosswalks to Brampton, and early estimates put the cost of each new crosswalk between $60,000 and $160,000.

The pilot project could lead to one high-visibility crosswalk in each of Brampton’s ward pairings, if requested by area councillors.

Reports from the city showed the ASE program led to an average reduction of 9.33 km/h at locations where the cameras are placed in Brampton. Five zones have seen reductions of 20 km/h or more, with the biggest average drop of 25.39 km/h at North Park Drive west of Massy Street.

And while the cameras no longer track speeders, the city is exploring ways to “repurpose” existing ASE infrastructure “to support alternate road and community safety initiatives,” like conversion into red-light cameras, or add “vehicle noise monitoring technology.”