The Town of Newmarket will begin watching and recording streets for speeders in June as its community safety camera program begins.
“Coming soon” signs will appear on streets starting March 25 at 14 locations throughout the community. They foretell automated speed enforcement cameras, which be active starting in June, leading to warning letters before ticketing starts July 2.
The municipality said this will lead to safer streets and reduce speeding in the community safety zones where the cameras get installed.
“Streets will be safer for children walking to and from school in Newmarket thanks to the automated speed enforcement technology that has proven to substantially reduce speeding while ticketing those that choose to speed in community safety zones,” Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said in a news release.
The town has worked on the program for more than a year to address speeding concerns in the community. Similar to the existing York Region speed camera program, the automated speed cameras will be able to watch for speeding and automatically send out tickets to drivers. The cameras will rotate over time, with a “coming soon” sign in place at least 90 days before installation.
The initial launch of the program will have 14 cameras mounted on a pole on the following streets:
- Ward 1: Stonehaven Avenue and Kingsmere Avenue
- Ward 2: Gorham Street and Srigley Street East
- Ward 3: Wayne Drive and Patterson Street
- Ward 4: Longford Drive and Bristol Road East
- Ward 5: Queen Street and William Roe Boulevard
- Ward 6: Savage Road and Clearmeadow Boulevard
- Ward 7: Woodspring East and Woodspring West
The town plans to collect feedback from residents on a survey, including a randomized phone survey. You can also complete a the survey at newmarket.ca/communitysafetycamera. The survey runs through April 12.
“Everyone’s feedback is highly valuable,” the town said. “Feedback collected will be used to inform the community safety camera program and additional safety measures to reduce speeding in Newmarket.”
York Region’s pilot speeding program brought down speeds by an average of 10 kilometres per hour in areas where cameras were placed. The region installed a camera at Mulock Drive by Newmarket High School, which issued more than 6,000 tickets over the first four months in place.
The town said that funds collected through the program will be used to offset the cost of it.
The community safety zones are areas identified as priority areas for safety, located near schools, playgrounds and recreational amenities.
“Residents have told us that their number 1 issue is speeding and safe streets. We are now taking the strongest action we can take to curb speeding and improve safety,” Taylor said. “If you are caught speeding near a school — please don’t act surprised, and more importantly, please stop speeding.”
