New Westminster wants to improve safety on local streets by installing more intersection safety cameras
At its Dec. 11 meeting, council considered a motion from Coun. Tasha Henderson to direct the mayor to write to the provincial government requesting that the province install additional speed and red light intersection safety cameras in New Westminster. The motion asked that priority be given to intersections with a high rate of crashes that resulted in injuries or fatalities (as identified in the 2023 New Westminster intersection safety study) and intersections near schools having a high rate of crashes that resulted in injuries or fatalities.
The motion also recommended that the city ask the provincial government to allow B.C. local governments to install speed and red light cameras at their own cost and to collect fines, and that the provincial government provide all revenues from additional speed and red light cameras to municipalities as grants to be invested in implementing local road safety improvements.
“Since appearing as a notice of motion on the agenda, council has received strong letters of support from the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C., CUPE local 873, Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice board of directors, and Fraser Health medical health officer for New Westminster,” Henderson said. “Verbally, I've also received strong support from the Walkers Caucus, locally, and from the city's police chief.”
At Monday’s meeting, Henderson read a portion of a letter from the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C.: “The installation of intersection safety cameras serves as a powerful deterrent to individuals who would otherwise engage in dangerous behaviors such as speeding or running red lights. By reducing the number and severity of crashes, these cameras would lead to fewer emergency calls and alleviate the strain on our already overworked emergency response teams. This in turn allows us to focus on other critical calls and ultimately saves more lives."
Henderson said the same could be said for New Westminster firefighters, whose work includes responding to many collisions.
“As a council, we recently received an information report about the 25 intersections in New Westminster that have the highest number of collisions. So the timing makes sense to me to bring it forward now,” she said. “I've also highlighted schools as priority areas, as I think this complements the work that staff are doing to increase road safety around schools, both in terms of permanent infrastructure and road changes, but also following the motion I brought forward to extending the times of school zone speed limits.”
Henderson said she hopes that a strong coordination of voices on this issue will encourage the province to install more cameras and will allow New Westminster to install its own cameras.
“I think that the initiative that Coun. Henderson has put forward, if fully implemented, will not only improve safety on the streets, it'll also generate some extra dollars for the City of New Westminster, “said Coun. Daniel Fontaine. “So on both those fronts, it's a check mark for me in terms of support.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said the motion is in line with initiatives that a couple of other municipalities are working on. He suggested the motion should be amended to be sent to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association and the Union of BC Municipalities for support.
Fontaine suggested the motion could also be amended to ask the province to provide more flexibility for cities like New Westminster to set fines and penalties.
“They might come back to us and say no, but I think we could ask for it, at least having some flexibility,” he said. “The worst they can do is say is no.”
Council unanimously supported Henderson’s motion, as well as amendments related to issues raised by Fontaine (about setting fines) and Johnstone (about asking the UBCM and LMLGA). The city will ask that LMLGA and UBCM request the province allow local governments to install speed and red light cameras at their own cost and set and collect fines directly to be earmarked for road safety improvements.
