Residents who live along Cranberry Trail East want the town to do something about rampant speeding, a lack of sidewalks and regular on-street parking that happens on their doorsteps.
And automated speed enforcement could be the answer.
During their regular meeting on Jan. 27, councillors heard a deputation from residents Nancy Gangbar and Beth Turner on speeding and unsafe driving in their neighbourhood off Cranberry Trail East. During the same meeting, the town’s manager of development Amber Leal provided a presentation on the possibility of bringing red-light cameras and automated speed enforcement to town.
“It’s a bad place to be in when you have residents coming up to you on a weekly basis about how people are driving,” said Coun. Kathy Jeffery following the traffic camera presentation. “I appreciate the information, but I will be pushing all the way for this to get done sooner rather than later.”
Gangbar and Turner both live on Woodland Court off Cranberry Trail East. The road is currently not assumed by the town, which has led to the town having little recourse to fix what is happening before the town formally assumes the road.
Gangbar said there are no line markings anywhere on the road, one sign noting the speed limit under a burnt-out streetlight, no shoulder or sidewalks and no signs to indicate where cars can park.
As the area is currently the subject of multiple development proposals, plans for the town to assume the road in the future are still a while away. According to the Blue Fairways plan of subdivision originally approved more than 20 years ago, final roadwork will happen on the street including a paved shoulder as part of the final phase, which is not yet complete. Sidewalks were not included in those plans.
In the meantime, both Gangbar and Turner say it’s become a dangerous situation for pedestrians and cyclists.
“How many more years does Cranberry Trail have to remain unassumed?” asked Turner during her presentation. “It’s already been 20 years. Do we wait 10, 15 or more? Or do we wait until an accident happens?”
Gangbar and Turner are hoping the town will consider changing the speed limit on the road to 40 kilometres per hour, build a sidewalk and designate and mark a bike lane on each side of the road.
Leal said the town’s master mobility and transportation plan is looking at Cranberry Trail East – once it is connected – as a collector road and a potential pedestrian connection, although Leal said she believes the town is still a few years out from assuming the road. Public consultation on the plan is continuing in 2025, with the plan expected to come to council for consideration in April.
Mayor Yvonne Hamlin encouraged Gangbar and Turner, and anyone else concerned about the roads in their neighbourhood, to get involved in that process.
“Thank you for bringing this to us. We are aware of the issues there,” said Hamlin.
Collingwood councillors received a presentation during the same meeting from Leal on the possibility of bringing red-light cameras and automated speed enforcement to town, which is also being considered through the town’s master mobility and transportation plan.
A red-light camera detects and captures images of vehicles entering an intersection while the traffic signal is red. The program is focused on altering driver behaviour to decrease red-light running and increase safety.
Images are reviewed by Provincial Offences officers and tickets are issued to the owner of the vehicle, regardless of who was driving. Upon conviction, the only penalty is a fine; no demerit points are issued nor will the registered owners’ driving record be impacted. The fine for running a red light in Ontario is $325.
Red-light cameras differ from automated speed enforcement, as they monitor for different offences: either drivers running red lights, or speeding.
Automated speed enforcement cameras are battery-operated and can be operated out of various roadside boxes or mounted to posts or poles, typically in community safety zones.
Leal noted it’s unclear whether having either option available in Collingwood would be revenue-generating, but said that other municipalities that use traffic cameras are able to fully fund their programs through the camera revenue.
“If properly planned, it’s expected that Collingwood could see a similar outcome,” said Leal.
One potential snag to implementing the program is that all joint processing centres in Ontario currently have a wait list or are closed to new municipalities.
Coun. Deb Doherty asked if Collingwood could join the wait list now and pull out later if the town decides to not proceed. Leal said there is an agreement associated with being on a wait list, and she was unsure if municipalities could back out later.
“There are plenty of municipalities waiting on the list,” said Leal.
Jeffery said when she originally put forward the motion to have staff look into automated speed enforcement, she had hoped it was something that could be implemented quickly.
“This is about changing the driving behaviours of people in town and visiting our town. I’m a little impatient because I was hoping this would take us to the next step,” she said.
She asked if it was even possible for the town to implement either option in 2025. Leal said she thought it was “prudent” to wait until the transportation plan was complete before proceeding on automated speed enforcement or red light cameras in Collingwood.
“I feel like we keep coming up against the same barriers every time,” Jeffery responded. “We need more staff. We need a master plan. It’s so frustrating. I don’t feel like we can get anything done.”
Later on in the meeting during council’s committee of the whole, Jeffery put forward a notice of motion directing town staff register to be part of a joint processing centre wait-list for traffic cameras if it’s feasible to do so without penalty.
“We hear from the community about how they’d like to have more enforcement of this kind. We’ll be looking forward to the next steps,” said Hamlin.
The motion will be considered at council’s next regular meeting.