New red-light cameras coming to 10 Hamilton intersections
The city will add red-light cameras at 10 new intersections by the end of this year after a two-year hiatus on installation.
The new cameras, which catch red-light runners in the act and trigger a mail-out fine, are mostly aimed at intersections on the Mountain and in suburban wards like Stoney Creek, Dundas, Glanbrook, Ancaster and Flamborough.
City council voted to add five cameras a year over five years starting in 2017, but installation stopped temporarily to allow for a technological upgrade, said Mike Field, the city's acting transportation operations manager. Now we're playing catch-up," he said Monday.
All of the installations should be done by the end of 2022.
Intersections are chosen based on safety evaluations. Statistics suggest the cameras reduce the number of serious T-bone collisions over time, but at least one resident has appealed the constitutional validity of the program.
Field said he expects staff to recommend more cameras to be added annually - but that decision will be up to the next council at budget time.
There are already 32 cameras in the city.
Hamilton's red-light cameras, by the numbers:
2: the number of cameras Hamilton started with two decades ago.
42: the number of red-light cameras the city will have by the end of the year.
65: the percentage drop in the number of T-bone collisions with injuries in the last three years compared to the three years before cameras were installed.
325: the dollar amount for each red-light fine.
6,606: the number of red-light runners caught at the intersection of Dundurn and Main Street between 2019 and 2021 - tops in the city.
19,500: tickets mailed out in 2020.
The new camera sites include:
- Paramount Drive and Winterberry Drive;
- Highway 8 and Grays Road;
- Barton Street and Fruitland Road;
- Upper James Street and Airport Road;
- Garner Road East and Southcote Road;
- Wilson Street West and Hwy 52/Trinity Road South;
- Cootes Drive and Dundas Street;
- Stone Church Road West and Upper Paradise Road;
- Garth Street and Fennell Avenue West/Scenic Drive;
- and Highway 5 East and Hamilton Street North.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com