MAPLETON – Five school zones and one community safety zone in Mapleton will be part of a trial automated speed enforcement (ASE) program on Wellington County roads.
A report from Mapleton public works director Jamie Morgan explains the county has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a vendor to provide ASE services for a one-year term on county roads on a trial basis.
The service will be implemented in designated community safety zones and in school zones located on county roads.
The report, presented at the Jan. 16 township council meeting, indicates the goal is to have a contract awarded in February, with implementation to occur prior to school commencing in September.
“They hope to implement it for September 2024, when the schools are back in,” said Morgan.
“There’s always concerns with speeding through school zones and we want to … keep (speed) down for the students’ safety.”
The Mapleton school zones included in the trial program are:
- Maryborough Public School on Wellington Road 10 (McGivern Street, Moorefield);
- Drayton Heights Public School on Wellington Road 11 (Wellington Street South, Drayton); and
- Alma Public School on Wellington Road 17 (Peel Street, Alma); and
- Mennonite schools on Wellington Roads 8 and 86.
The impacted Mapleton community safety zone is on Wellington Road 11 (Wellington Street South), from Spring Street to Andrews Drive in Drayton.
The report notes that during the trial period the ASE program will be managed by the county, without any cost to member municipalities.
“After the County of Wellington one-year trial, the Township of Mapleton will likely implement the program in the remaining schools zones that are located on municipal (Mapleton) roads,” the report notes.
“Once the trial is done and the local municipalities have this service offered or available, who makes that decision to use them locally?” asked councillor Michael Martin, who also wondered if local municipalities would be responsible for revenue and expenses after the trial period.
“Are those tasked to the member municipality as well, or is it simply a county-driven initiative that would be on a local municipal road?” Martin wondered.
Mayor Gregg Davidson explained it would be up to municipalities to request inclusion of school and safety zones on non-county roads in their municipality.
However the mayor said the county, which administers the Wellington OPP contract and local court systems, would handle operations and costs of the program, as well as any revenue generated through speeding tickets.
Davidson explained that while the City of Toronto “acts as a clearing house” for tickets generated through ASE systems for many municipalities, “we’ve asked in the RFP that it be a total turnkey operation.”
“From my side of things, I don’t want to use the City of Toronto clearing house because they’re slow,” Davidson stated.
“We would be the first county in the province to do this if the RFP is accepted.”
Council received the report for information.
