Red light cameras will soon be nabbing speeding drivers, although that won’t be the case in South Delta.
The provincial government announced May 7 the intersection at Nordel Way and 84th Avenue will be equipped with additional technology that will automatically send speeding tickets to lead-footed drivers. It’s one of 35 intersection cameras in the province, and the only one in Delta, that will be equipped with the additional measure.
In a news release, the government said it had completed an analysis of speed and crash data for the 140 sites wth intersection cameras, identifying those with the greatest need for further safety gains through automated speed enforcement.
Beginning this summer, the province will install new warning signs and activate the technology to ticket the registered owners of vehicles entering the intersections “well over” the posted limit on a red, yellow or green light.
Between 2012 and 2016, intersection camera sites in B.C. reported an average of 10,500 vehicles a year going at least 30 km/h over the posted speed limit, as detected by red-light cameras, which also monitor vehicle speeds. Speed has been one of the top contributing factors in casualty crashes at those intersections.
The province last summer announced that intersection cameras would start operating 24/7 at 140 intersections in B.C. that have some of the highest crash rates. The cameras had previously only been activated for six hours a day during high traffic periods.
In North Delta, there are four intersection cameras: Nordel Way and Scott Road, Scott Road and 80th Avenue, Highway 10 and Scott Road, and Nordel Way and 84th Avenue. None are in Tsawwassen or Ladner, including the busy intersections of Highway 17 at 56th Street or Highway 17A at Ladner Trunk Road.
Delta’s engineering department notes the camera locations were selected by ICBC based on frequency of angle-type crashes. Delta had no input in the selection process.
Despite Delta police issuing advance warnings on social media where they’ll be doing a traffic enforcement blitz, speeding drivers on Nordel Way continue to get nabbed in high numbers in the 60 km/h zone.
According to Delta police, Nordel Way has several of the top crash locations in the city.
