Ottawa – With the support of Mayor Jim Watson and Transportation Committee Chair, Stephen Blais, City staff will be recommending today eight new locations that are poised to become community safety zones, pending Council approval.
The locations are in addition to four existing community safety zones within City limits. All eight new locations are near schools where speeding and careless drivers are a risk to children. The locations were selected based on data including previous incidents of speeding vehicles, the number of children in the area, and previous collisions.
The proposed locations are (one location in Bay Ward):
- Watters Road (St. Francis of Assisi School)
- Longfields Drive (École élémentaire catholique Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, St. Mother Teresa High School and Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School)
- Bayshore Drive (St. Rose of Lima School)
- Meadowlands Drive West (St. Gregory School)
- Ogilvie Road (Gloucester High School)
- Smyth Road (Vincent Massey Public School, Hillcrest High School and École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité)
- Innes Road (École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges)
- Katimavik Road (Holy Trinity Catholic High School)
A staff report recommending the new community safety zones will be the subject of deliberation by both Transportation Committee and Council later this month. Pending Council approval, the new locations could become community safety zones by the end of the month.
Fines for speeding and careless driving are doubled in community safety zones. Fines for other Highway Traffic Act offences are also higher in these zones.
The Safer School Zones Act (2017) permits speed cameras in community safety zones with speed limits lower than 80 kilometres per hour. This allows for consistent enforcement and lowers operating speeds. Automated speed enforcement cameras are anticipated to be rolled out to some community safety zones once regulations are approved by the Province of Ontario.
For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca or call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401). You can also connect with us through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
