West-end speed camera bedevils most speed demons

For the sixth month in a row, the photo radar camera on Parkside Drive in the city’s west end has ticketed more drivers than any other Toronto location.

The automated speed enforcement device has been in place on Parkside Drive just south of Algonquin Avenue since April and, according to city data, the busy street next to High Park has topped the list of most-ticketed locations every month since May.

In October, the camera caught another 1,137 drivers speeding, down from 2,279 in September but still ahead of second place, Old Finch Avenue west of Littles Road in Scarborough. Since it was installed, the Parkside site alone has been responsible for more than 10 per cent of all automated tickets issued by the city’s 50 photo radar cameras.

Despite topping the list once again, the data for October and upcoming data for November are likely to be skewed after the Parkside device was initially moved to a new location on Oct. 24 as part of a planned rotation before it was decided it would return to Parkside Drive, according to a city spokesperson.

Normally city staff rotate the cameras’ locations every few months, but the city announced the Parkside camera would remain for another rotation “in response to community concerns” and to “improve compliance with the speed limit and reduce incidents of speeding on Parkside Drive.”

The device returned to Parkside on Nov. 24.

Speeding on Parkside — a straight residential street that runs beside the park connecting drivers to Lake Shore Boulevard West and Bloor Street West — is a long-standing concern among local residents. Faraz Gholizadeh, co-chair of Safe Parkside, said the number of violations shows that drivers aren’t getting the picture.

The fact the location saw the most charges even in a short month shows more needs to be done to slow traffic, Gholizadeh said.

“The city can’t point the finger at drivers because they designed the streets to be driven like that.”

Parkdale-High Park Coun. Gord Perks noted the month-by-month ticketing data shows a clear improvement in behaviour since the camera was first installed. He noted that October’s ticketing total was down 70 per cent from the 3,586 charges laid to drivers in April. He also noted that some of the highest-volume locations from previous rotations also weren’t active at the same time, making Parkside’s sixmonth reign atop the list something of a “fluke.”

He added that the city is looking into putting parking on the west side of Parkside Drive as “a way of narrowing the street.” It’s something that has already been completed on the east side, slowing northbound traffic, Perks said.

The city is set to add another 25 photo radar cameras in February.