Photo radar coming to roads near 12 Ottawa schools

Photo radar is coming to roads near a dozen Ottawa schools, likely before the end of the year.

The Ontario government hasgiven municipalitiesthe green light to use the technology tocurb speeding, but onlywithin designated "community safety zones." There are four community safety zones in the city.

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Once the city gets final details from the province, photo radar will be installed at the following eight locations:

• Watters Road, near St. Francis of Assisi School.
• Longfields Drive, near cole lmentaire catholique Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, St. Mother Teresa High School and Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School.
• Bayshore Drive, nearSt. Rose of Lima School.
• Meadowlands Drive W., nearSt. Gregory School.
• Ogilvie Road, near Gloucester High School.
• Smyth Road, nearVincent Massey Public School, Hillcrest High School and cole secondaire catholique Franco-Cit.
• Innes Road, nearcole secondaire catholique Batrice-Desloges.
• Katimavik Road, nearHoly Trinity Catholic High School.

"Everything's ready to go, but it's a matter for waiting for the province to turn on the switch," said Phil Landry, director of traffic services.

To prepare for the pilot, the city staff studied 376schools to compile data on how fast drivers are going, how many nearby collisions there have been and how many children walk to school.

"The focus here is to get the speeds down where the kids are walking to school," Landry said.

On Wednesday, some urban councillors questioned why none of the pilot locations is in the city core. Staff said it's because dense urban neighbourhoods can't accommodate the large signs that will warn motorists they're entering a community safety zone.

Staff will seek council's approval on Nov. 27 to erect thesigns.

Once the pilot begins, the city will spend the remainder of the school year studying whether photo radar reduces speed at those eight locations, then prepare a plan for council next fall to prepare for a citywide rollout.

In the meantime, the city is encouraging theOntario government to change the regulations to allow the cameras in all school zones, not just ones withincommunity safety zones.