City of Edmonton gets provincial approval to bring back speed-on-green photo radar at 1 intersection - CBC

The province has allowed the City of Edmonton to reinstate speed-on-green cameras at 97th Street and 167th Avenue — one of eight high-risk intersections the city identified. (Scott Neufeld/CBC)Social SharingThe Alberta government is allowing the City of Edmonton to bring back photo radar at only one of eight intersections the city identified as high-risk, frustrating some city leaders who say the technology used to make streets safer.

Craig McKeown, deputy city manager of city operations, told city council in a memo on Tuesday that the city submitted applications for speed-on-green cameras at eight locations to the Alberta government between November and January, prioritizing locations based on collision frequency and severity between 2022 and 2024. 

The memo said the city had not received decisions on any of the intersections and that the province had told the city in February it would not be authorizing new automated traffic enforcement matters until September because the ministry responsible for the program was changing.

“Given the fact that we've had so many deadly incidents recently, so many police press releases come out where speed is listed as a factor, the fact that there's still no action — it's just unconscionable,” Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz told reporters on Tuesday.

In an emailed statement sent to CBC News Wednesday morning, Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said the province has approved Edmonton’s use of photo radar on 97th Street and 167th Avenue but denied 10 applications in Edmonton and Calgary because exemption-based criteria “were simply not met.”

The province rejected Edmonton’s applications linked to 91st Street and 34th Avenue, 23rd Avenue and Parsons Road, Mark Messier Trail and 156th Street and 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive.

Because city officials submitted the applications last year, they provided the province with data from 2022 to 2024.

According to the city memo, speeding violations increased by nine per cent between 2022 and 2024 at 97th Street and 167th Avenue. There were 60 collisions recorded at that intersection in 2024.

The memo said 91st Street and 34th Avenue had 47 recorded collisions in 2023 and there were more than 3,000 speed violations there each year.

Fifty-six collisions were recorded each year in 2023 and 2024 at 23rd Avenue and 91st Street.

Wayne Gretzky Drive and 118th Avenue saw an average of nearly 9,000 speed violations each year.

Two major injury collisions and one traffic fatality occurred at Mark Messier Trail and 156th Street between 2022 and 2024.

Edmonton Police Service spokesperson Aminah Syed told CBC News there were no fatal collisions at any of the eight locations in 2025 or 2026.

Jessica Lamarre, director of safe mobility at the City of Edmonton, told CBC News each location met or exceeded the exemption thresholds established in the provincial Automated Traffic Enforcement Guideline.

She said the province told the city about the one approval on Wednesday. 

Mayor Andrew Knack told reporters on Wednesday that one location “is better than zero,” but he believes restrictions on photo radar have had a “massive impact on traffic safety” in Edmonton.

McKeown’s memo said monitoring shows increased speeding across the city’s road network since the province changed the rules on photo radar.

“Compared with 2024, vehicles travelling over the posted speed limit increased by 18 per cent in 2025 with increases observed at over 82 per cent of monitored intersections,” the memo said. 

The memo also said the rate of fatal and major injury collisions per vehicle distance travelled increased by 137 per cent after automated enforcement was removed.

Mayor Andrew Knack speaks with reporters at city hall about photo radar and other topics on Oct. 28, 2026. (Bob Grieve/CBC)

Knack told reporters he spoke about photo radar during a meeting with Premier Danielle Smith, Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams and Finance Minister Jason Nixon at Alberta’s legislature on Tuesday.

“Part of that conversation with the premier on photo radar was the timeliness of responding to those submissions,” he said.

Knack also said he spoke with the premier about making data-informed decisions.

According to McKeown’s memo, the city asked the provincial government in May if it could place speed monitoring equipment on Anthony Henday Drive (a provincial highway) but the government denied its request in September, saying the province already monitors speed there.

The memo said the city has asked multiple times to see the province’s data but the government has not provided it.

The province announced in 2024 it would be slashing 70 per cent of photo radar sites in Alberta.

At the time, Dreeshen called the tool a “government cash cow.” 

He said he believed it was being used to generate revenue for municipalities instead of making roads safer, a claim municipal leaders have rejected.

The province banned photo radar on provincial highways and restricted its use in municipalities, not allowing speed-on-green cameras at intersections and only allowing photo radar in school, playground and construction zones. 

Many municipalities have gotten rid of photo radar altogether, saying the cost of enforcement now exceeds the amount of revenue it can generate for other traffic safety initiatives.

In his statement to CBC News, Dreeshen said his ministry continues to work with municipalities and enforcement agencies to improve traffic safety rules and enforcement.

Madeleine Cummings is a reporter with CBC Edmonton. She covers municipal affairs for CBC Edmonton's web, radio and TV platforms. Have a story idea about a civic issue? You can reach her at madeleine.cummings@cbc.ca.

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

Subscribe to CBC’s Your Alberta newsletter for a weekly round-up of the best news stories, video and audio content from around your province.