Speed cameras across Niagara-on-the-Lake will soon be shut off after provincial lawmakers voted last week to end automated speed enforcement across Ontario — a move that’s prompting discussion among local school boards and municipal officials.

The change means photo radar used in school zones and community safety areas — including Niagara Region sites such as the camera near Crossroads Public School in Virgil — will be removed once the law takes effect, expected on or after Nov. 14.

Regional transportation director Frank Tassone said the region was already preparing for the change and has a process in place to deactivate the program.

He said councillors have been updated and the region will continue working with the province “to ensure a safe, efficient and reliable road network in Niagara.”

It will now move ahead with its “robust road safety strategy” that aims to lower collisions and stop deaths on regional roads, which the region said residents can learn more about at niagararegion.ca/living/roads/vision-zero/program-overview.aspx.

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa says the program is effective, noting NOTL’s cameras were never in use around the clock, “contrary to what is in the national and provincial media,” he said.

“They were being used in the school zones, as we know — two hours in the morning, two hours in the lunchtime and two hours in the afternoon, when classrooms were departing,” he said.

“I thought we were doing a really good job of being very balanced with it,” he added.

Zalepa said local safety decisions should be made “by local elected people.”

“I think the program was a very good program,” he said. “I’m disappointed that that’s a lever that we don’t have in school safety zones.”

In late September, Premier Doug Ford called speed-camera programs in Ontario “nothing more than a cash grab,” saying the province would instead financially support municipalities in installing other road-safety tools.

Zalepa said no details have been provided yet on what those alternatives might look like for municipalities.

“That’s probably what we’ll see in future information coming from the staff,” he said.

The District School Board of Niagara said school-zone safety depends on multiple measures working together.

“Pedestrian and road safety are shared responsibilities,” the public board said in an email. “A multipronged approach supports safe travel for students and benefits the broader community.”

The Niagara Catholic District School Board said it supports automated enforcement and other actions that slow drivers near schools.

“Any action taken to ensure the safety of our school community while they are travelling to school – whether by car, bus, foot, or any other means — is an effective way to support student safety,” the Catholic board said in an email.

It said it has not communicated an official position to the province or municipalities and plans to discuss the issue at its next meeting “to determine next steps.” It would not say if it was consulted on the decision.

“We would be willing to work with the province and or local municipalities; however, school boards are not funded by the province for traffic safety,” the Catholic board said.

The public board said it “works to ensure safe and active school travel,” partnering with Niagara Student Transportation Services, the Niagara Catholic District School Board, Niagara Regional Police Services, local municipalities and community partners.

It would not say whether it supports automated speed enforcement, has communicated an official position to the province or municipalities, was consulted on the decision, or has any traffic data around Crossroads that it can share.

The public board said throughout the year, it “proactively communicates” with families, “to remind them about safety measures and procedures for safely arriving and departing from school.”

The new law does not include any new enforcement measures.

It allows Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation, to direct municipalities to install school-zone signs — and to do the work directly if they don’t.

It also protects the province and municipalities from lawsuits or compensation claims tied to the cancellation of speed-camera contracts. Redflex Traffic Systems is the vendor contracted by Niagara Region to supply, maintain and operate the camera systems.

The region would not answer questions about what the repeal means for its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems or any potential financial impacts. By press time, the vendor did not respond to similar questions.

paigeseburn@niagaranow.com