The city is ramping up traffic-calming efforts, with city council members recently approving the use of automated speed-enforcement camera revenue to pay for it.
While recent years have seen the city’s budget allowing for only one traffic-calming feature to be added per year, 2026 will see the city add eight, boosted by camera revenue.
It’s anticipated that public consultation takes place this year and next, with tendering and construction taking place in 2026.
Many of the locations have been on the city’s traffic-calming list for more than 15 years, but haven’t been funded, city Traffic and Transportation manager David Knutson noted in his report.
Traffic calming is just that; “a technique to reduce the impacts of traffic on neighbourhoods and public facilities such as parks, school areas and community centres,” according to the city’s website.
Although speed humps are the most commonly recognized traffic-calming infrastructure, signs, curb extensions, traffic circles, raised median island, and raised crosswalks and intersections are other examples.
The city’s flexible bollards are a temporary solution the city has been adopting in recent years to tackle the city’s list of 37 roadways which qualify for traffic calming until such time as permanent infrastructure is put in place.
The top-ranked location the city is handling with traffic calming infrastructure will be Brenda Drive, from Moonrock Avenue to St. Charles Lake Road.
“It is anticipated that speed bumps or speed tables (elongated, flat-topped raised sections of road) will be the selected traffic-calming measure of choice, however, the location will still be subject to public consultation and final design,” according to a report by Knutson earlier this year.
Other locations slated to receive traffic-calming infrastructure this year include:
- Lansing Avenue (Lasalle Boulevard to Maley Drive)
- Grandview Boulevard (Montrose Avenue to Wedgewood Drive)
- Bancroft Avenue (Kingsway to Bellevue Avenue)
- King Street (Morin Avenue to Notre Dame Avenue)
- Kelly Lake Road (Southview Drive to Copper Street)
- Robinson Drive (Kelly Lake Road to Southview Drive)
- Auger Avenue (Lasalle Boulevard to Gemmell Street)
The city is also installing an electric speed-display sign on Field Street, which shows how fast vehicles are travelling against the speed limit, and spending $20,000 on an education campaign.
The city’s slate of six automated speed-enforcement cameras have been active since March 22, 2024, and resulted in the issuance of 12,796 tickets last year. These tickets resulted in a total set fine sum of $1,344,237 and a net revenue to the city of $753,003.
In addition to the aforementioned traffic-calming efforts, the funds are also being drawn from to pay for the city’s expanded flexible bollard traffic-calming program and gateway speed limits.
Bollards are yellow posts placed at the sides and centre of roads to narrow them with the intention of slowing traffic. Gateway speed limits slow traffic to 40 km/h and 30km/h in school zones within a fixed area indicated by signs specifying where the gateway area “begins” and “ends.”
In the city’s 2023 budget, city council approved expanding the bollard program from 10 locations to 28, paid for by automated speed enforcement revenue. A staff report on the city’s gateway speed limit pilot project is anticipated by the end of the year.
The city’s six mobile automated speed-enforcement cameras are anticipated to become active at their new locations on June 2.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
