Photo radar coming to Wakaw intersection

The intersection of Highway 41 and Highway 2 at Wakaw will soon have photo speed enforcement (PSE).

The provincial government made the decision after a review from the PSE Committee, which is made up of representatives from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ministries of Justice and Highways and Infrastructure, and Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

“There [have] been 31 collisions [at the intersection of Highways 41 and 2] since 2011, and six deaths and 45 injuries,” Minister Responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave told northeastNOW. “It’s one of the most dangerous intersections in the province.”

Hargrave said SGI and the Ministry of Highways are focused on safety on the province’s roads.

“[Establishing a camera] is an option we want to look at and we want to try, and if it doesn’t work, if we don’t find a reduction in accidents and injuries, and deaths, then we’re going to have to look at other options for that intersection,” said Hargrave.

The speed limit at the intersection was recently reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h. However, Hargrave said speeding is still a significant problem.

“Our data shows that…42 per cent of the vehicles travelling through that intersection are exceeding the posted speed,” said Hargrave. “That’s still a considerable amount of vehicles exceeding the speed limit.”

The camera at Wakaw is expected to be up and running by the end of January. There will be a three-month grace period, in which warnings will be issued. Ticketing will begin following the warning period. There will also be considerable signage to alert drivers to the change.

Hargrave said the initiative has local support.

“The Town of Wakaw supports the installation of photo speed enforcement along Highway 41,” Mayor Steve Skoworodko said in the government news release. “We need to reduce the amount of speeders travelling through that intersection, because they are putting themselves and other road users in danger.”

Hargrave said Skoworodko is with the local EMS, and he’s been to the intersection for collisions far too often.

“I’m happy to know that these measures are being taken to increase the level of safety for area residents and visitors,” Rural Municipality of Fish Creek 402 Reeve Brian Domotor said in the same release. “Photo speed enforcement has proven to be effective at lowering the number of collisions, injuries and fatalities from speed-related collisions.”

Establishing photo radar on a provincial highway is relatively rare, with a camera currently on the Trans-Canada Highway around Moose Jaw. Hargrave said there are also cameras on Highway 12 near Martensville but they are being removed.

Hargrave said the government has no plans for a mass expansion of PSE program.

“We’re not anxious to put photo radar out on all of our highways in this province whatsoever, but there [are] certain spots where maybe we’ll have to look at and consider it,” said Hargrave.

The government news release said the PSE committee received nine proposals for new camera locations from four applicants before making their recommendations to the province. The successful applications needed to demonstrate the proposed location was high-risk, high-collision, or had a high volume of vulnerable pedestrians. The applicants also needed to prove that previous efforts to fix the issue didn’t work.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974