Speed cameras coming into focus at two Barrie locations this week

The time is here for lead-foots to lighten up.

Barrie’s new automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras will be operational at two Barrie locations, starting this week.

“There’s a very simple way to avoid getting a ticket. Don’t speed,” Mayor Alex Nuttall said on a blustery Monday morning near Lennox Park in the city's south end. “Please slow down and help keep our communities a safe place to live for our children and for our families.”

Nuttall stood near one of the first two locations for ASE cameras — eastbound on Big Bay Point Road near Willow Landing and St. Michael the Archangel Catholic elementary schools. The second location is southbound on Anne Street North, near Portage View and Nouvelle-Alliance schools.

ASE is a system that uses a camera and a speed measuring device to detect and capture images of the licence plates of vehicles travelling faster than the posted speed limit in school or community safety zones. These types of charges are the responsibility of the vehicle owner and not the driver.

“The initial locations of the speed cameras were determined using data collected for community safety zones showing areas where drivers are regularly going over the posted speed limit,” Nuttall said. “There are signs in both areas to let drivers know that a speed camera is in use.

"The cameras will be rotated through different community safety zones every few months.”

Threshold speeds and camera operational hours will not be disclosed, according to city officials.

But the penalty is a fine, and tickets issued through ASE don’t result in demerit points.

The fine will be based on by how much the driver is exceeding the speed limit. Fines are doubled in community safety zones — even if the violation occurs outside of school hours.

“These cameras will serve as a crucial tool in deterring speeding and ensuring the well-being of pedestrians and cyclists,” Nuttall said. “By embracing this technology, we’re taking a proactive step towards creating safer streets, a secure environment and promoting responsible driving habits in Barrie.”

Barrie has 27 community safety zones. They are established by municipal councils through a bylaw, and cover road areas where there is a higher risk to, or concern for, drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and/or others who share the space.

Highway Traffic Act fines, including speeding, are doubled in community safety zones and many community safety zones are located close to schools.

Barrie has 81 sections of road designated as community safety zones in accordance with the community safety zones bylaw.

Barrie’s ASE camera equipment costs $100,000 and yearly operational costs are $370,000, staff said. The fines will cover a portion of the ASE program’s costs.

LAS, the business services arm of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), and the city signed an agreement last summer that LAS will initially fund two provincial offences officers who will process speed-camera violations in Barrie.

Insurance comparison site MyChoice, using data collected since 2020, has rated the 10 safest and 10 most dangerous Ontario cities in which to drive. Toronto is the safest, Brantford is the most dangerous. Barrie ranked seventh on the most dangerous list. For more information, click here.