Province approves automated traffic enforcement return for two Calgary intersections

The Calgary Police Service (CPS) has got the go-ahead from the province to reintroduce automated traffic enforcement, nine months after Alberta removed photo radar from provincial highways and cracked down on other methods of traffic enforcement.

Eastbound and westbound 16 Avenue and 68 Street NE and eastbound and westbound Highway 1A at 12 Mile Coulee Road NW have been approved for ISDs for both red-light and speed enforcement starting Friday, Oct. 3.

According to CPS, there were 37 collisions at the intersection of 16 Avenue and 68 Street NE in 2024. Between January and July 2025, the highest recorded speeds at this intersection ranged from 111 km/h and 192 km/h.

The speed limit in that area is 70 km/h.

Officials in various levels of government and law enforcement, including Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and CPS leadership, have called for the new provincial policies to be scrapped.

As of December 2024, mandatory restrictions resulted in the removal of photo radar on provincial highways and limited the use of Intersection Safety Devices (ISDs) for red light enforcement only on non-provincial roads and connectors. This change also resulted in the removal of speed-on-green ISDs at intersections.

CPS submitted requests to reinstate automatic traffic enforcement at multiple high-risk areas for serious-injury or fatal collisions.

2025 has been a deadly year on Calgary roads — so far this year, there have been 25 fatal collisions in the city. In all of 2024, there were 29, and that was a 10-year-high.

Police say last year, there were 20 crashes at the intersection of Highway 1A and 12 Mile Coulee Road NW. In the first six months of 2025, the highest recorded speeds at the intersection range from 121 km/h and 162 km/h.

The speed limit in that area is 90 km/h.

“Automated traffic enforcement has historically played a vital role in the service’s overall traffic safety enforcement, and we know that speed is a major factor in the severity of collisions,” said CPS Deputy Chief Cliff O’Brien. “These collisions deeply impact everyone involved, especially the loved ones of those who are killed or seriously injured, as well as the larger community as a whole.”

CPS is a proponent of automated traffic enforcement on all roads with high volumes of traffic. It says it results in a reduction of the average vehicle speed, reduces the number of injury collisions, fatal collisions, and pedestrian collisions, maintains safer driver behaviour with the deterrent of fines for driving at dangerous speeds, and it frees up patrol officers to respond to already challenging and busy calls for service.