Deployment of photo radars on the road network

Various criteria are involved when determining where photo radar devices will be set up. The devices are deployed on major roads and certain municipal roads where they will have a positive effect on road safety. They may also be installed in school or roadwork zones, where speed limits are reduced.

To determine whether a public road or part of such a road is suitable for photo radar, the following guidelines must be followed:

• Choose problem locations to improve road safety by targeting areas identified by accident analysis, including accident severity.
• Take proactive measures to prevent serious accidents, particularly those involving vulnerable road users, by addressing risk factors such as speeding.
• Prioritize high-volume public roads to change the behaviour of a large number of drivers in order to maximize the effect of safety measures.
• Use photo radar in locations where regular police surveillance is difficult to carry out.

The Québec government will gradually deploy more than 250 photo radar devices across the province’s road network. Approximately 200 of these will be installed at fixed locations, half of which will be in municipalities. More than 50 will be mobile detection systems, used in school and roadwork zones.

To implement each phase of deployment, various government and municipal experts are working together to:

• design new deployment strategies
• select the types of devices to use
• determine the number of devices to be purchased

For the time being, municipalities cannot apply to have photo radar devices installed in their territory. However, a call for proposals will soon be launched for the regions targeted for deployment. At that time, a guide will be published to support local and regional administrations in their efforts. The terms and conditions for submitting applications will be specified in the guide.

Municipal cooperation pilot project

Since October 2015, photo radar devices have been monitoring the road networks managed by the cities of Montréal, Gatineau and Laval, as well as the agglomerations of Longueuil and Québec. These cities are participating in a municipal cooperation pilot project.

Road safety assessment

Photo radar devices are one of many tools that can be used to improve road safety. The relevance of installing such a device at a specific location must therefore be supported by evidence. That is why municipalities considering installing photo radar on their territory are invited to initiate a road safety assessment, if they have not already done so. To support them in this process, financial assistance is available for the design of a municipal road safety plan (in French only).