Almost half a year since those speed cameras were first turned off across Waterloo Region and Ontario as a whole, the City of Waterloo is now driving towards installing raised crosswalks and speed humps in their absence.
City councillors met Monday afternoon to discuss those new traffic calming measures, looking to add extra safety precautions to slow down drivers around four local schools.
Those schools in question include St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School, St. Agnes Catholic Elementary School, Keats Way Public School and MacGregor Senior Public School.
It comes after those speed cameras were first turned off back in November of 2025, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushed through legislation which banned the use of speed camera programs across the province.
Prior to the legislation being enacted, Ford called those programs “cash grabs” and “speed traps,” stating that their elimination would put money back in the pockets of taxpayers.
Waterloo Councillor Royce Bodaly noted, though, that it would be hard for key areas, such as St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary on Laurelwood Drive, to find options that would have the same effectiveness as those prior speed cameras.
“That area of the city was the most complained-about area of my ward in my first term on council,” Bodaly stated.
“We put in the speed camera there, and then virtually all of my complaints around how fast cars were driving on that street disappeared.”
In order to aid municipalities in the absence of those cameras, a $210 million pool was put in place through the province’s Road Safety Initiatives Fund, hoping to spur further investments in school zones, community safety zones, and other impacted areas.
The steps that Waterloo looks to take include raised crosswalks in front of those particular schools, as well as added speed humps to slow drivers down, but some councillors, including Bodaly, were quick to note the potential drawbacks of such a move.
“Historically, putting speed bumps or vertical deflection on roads like that, like Laurelwood, which is a major collector road, which is a bus route, has not been looked upon as a strong decision point for the city to consider,” Bodaly noted.
City staff said, in the absence of other available options, those raised crosswalks and speed humps would be the safest option for the local community, which councillors agreed with.
Staff added that speed radar boards would be included, set up to show drivers their speeds when driving down those local roadways, working to dissuade those drivers from moving at high speeds.
The total expected cost for the project equates to roughly $350,000, which staff said would be funded through regional and provincial-based funds.
Those four school zones, which will see the added traffic calming measures, will be monitored over the coming months by city staff, with plans to install similar measures at six other locations.
They said there are plans in place for Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School, Vista Hills Public School, Westvale Public Elementary School, Sir Edgar Bauer Catholic Elementary School, Cedarbrae Public School, and St. Matthew’s Catholic Elementary School to see similar changes in the near future.
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