Highway workers want to bring back photo radar

TORONTO — Construction companies working on Ontario’s highways want a return to the days of photo radar.

The workers say they want the provincial government to bring back the controversial cameras at least for highway construction zones.

A group of road repair workers — who presented their proposal to the Ontario Legislature yesterday — say the province’s highways are becoming unsafe because many vehicles do not slow down through marked construction zones.

Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield told reporters, however, the Liberal government isn’t considering photo radar cameras.

Photo radar consisted of roadside vans, which contain computer-controlled cameras that take pictures of speeders.

Ontario’s former NDP regulators previously enacted photo radar in the early ’90s. One of Mike Harris’ Conservative government’s first moves was to scrap the cameras when it took office in 1995.

Conservative Leader John Tory said he has no intention of revisiting photo radar if he were to get elected next year, calling it nothing more than a “cash grab.”

— from Canadian Press