High collision locations could get an exemption from Alberta’s upcoming photo radar rules, but cities, like Calgary, will have to make the case for safety.

Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen told media at a conference on Friday morning in Calgary that his office has reached out to all municipalities to inform them of the new photo radar guidelines.

Starting April 1, photo radar use will end on numbered provincial highways and be restricted to school, playground and construction zones in municipalities. They want to reduce the number of photo radar sites in the province by 70 per cent.

Back in December, when the new rules were first announced, Minister Dreeshen said he would encourage municipalities to explore traffic calming and other measures like electronic speed warning signs to help slow drivers down.

He also said at the time that cities could request additional sites outside of the three primary areas if they showed evidence of high rates of collisions. Dreeshen confirmed that again on Friday.

“There will be a possibility for a municipality to apply for an exemption, to go outside of those three zones, 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,” Minister Dreeshen said.

He explained there would be an exemption process where intersections would be submitted, with evidence, for approval. Along with that, there would be a two-year audit to ensure the system is being used properly.

“We really want to instill confidence for all Albertans that photo radar is being used for traffic safety,” Minister Dreeshen said.

“I think with these new these new conditions that we’re putting on photo radar, Albertans can have that confidence.”

The evidence is there: Calgary police Chief Neufeld

Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld has expressed frustration with the province’s new photo radar rules. He’s said there’s a clear safety case to be made for the use of the speed enforcement tool, and he’s advocated for their use in high collision locations.

In the 2024 year-end interview with LiveWire Calgary, Chief Neufeld said that in the intersections that have safety devices, there’s been a 75 per cent decrease in fatal collisions and 55 per cent decrease in injury collisions.

He also said the CPS has been able to reduce the aggregate speed of travel by six kilometres.

“That may not sound like much, but each kilometer of the research shows that each kilometer of speed is correlated with more collisions, more serious collisions, and that includes fatal collisions. So, it’s really very significant,” he said.

That’s the data they’ve already tried to share with the province.

“We didn’t even see acknowledgement of that data,” Neufeld said.

The Calgary Police Commission (CPC) and the Calgary Police Service (CPS) have said the photo radar changes will leave a $28 million hole in their budget. A recent memo from the CPC provides three options for dealing with it, and two options mean fewer officers on Calgary streets.

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean said he agreed with the province that photo radar shouldn’t be used as a revenue generator, referring to the so-called “fishing holes” police purportedly use to nab vehicles driving over the posted speed limit.

“It should be put in playgrounds and in school zones. That’s where people really, really want to see safety increased, and that’s where you can actually punish or condition people to not speed,” McLean said.

As for the $28 million shortfall, Coun. McLean doesn’t expect taxpayers to fund it. Should it be tacked on to the city’s operating costs, it would be a roughly 1.25 per cent increase to the property tax rate.

“They’re the biggest line item in our budget. I’m sure they can find some savings in there, just like everybody else,” McLean said.

“I advocate for the city to find savings and efficiencies to fund it, not raise taxes. And Calgary police services, they should be able to do this as well.”

CPC said they’ve already found $10 million in savings, however, that means 61 new and vacant officer positions wouldn’t be filled.

Earlier this year, the City of Calgary provided the CPS with additional funding to build a new gun range.