The Edmonton Police Service’s Traffic Services Branch will be putting rubber to the road this summer to address ongoing traffic issues including speeding and noise on city roadways.
Beginning this week and running throughout the summer, EPS members will partner with the City of Edmonton’s Traffic Safety Section and Peace Officers on Project TENSOR, Traffic Enforcement Noise/Speed Offence Reduction.
Due to recent events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, EPS officers have seen less traffic on Edmonton roads, and an increase in excessive speeders and obnoxious noise. This has precipitated a significant increase in traffic complaints to EPS and the city, says Sgt. Kerry Bates, of the EPS Traffic Safety Unit.
“As a police service, we’ve seen it and messaged the pubic repeatedly about ongoing incidents of excessive speeding and traffic noise pollution. We want citizens to know that we hear you, and we’re going to vigorously enforce these laws over the summer with the goal of ridding our streets of this emergent problem.”
“Traffic issues surrounding speeding and vehicle noise typically pick up when the warmer weather arrives, so that’s certainly not new. Some drivers, however, continue to use our roadways as speedways due to lower traffic volumes associated with the COVOD-19 pandemic. This is a coordinated effort, along with city Peace Officers, to address this problematic trend, and to send a strong message to those who continue to place other citizens at risk,” explained Sgt. Bates.
Project TENSOR will focus its resources on “hot spots” and other areas across the city including:
- 97 Avenue from James McDonald Bridge to 109 Street (Legislature Tunnel)
- 109 Street from 97 Avenue north to Jasper Avenue
- Jasper Avenue from 95 Street up to 116 Street
- Whyte Avenue, from 99 Street to 109 Street
- Groat Road
- River Valley Road from Groat Road to 105 Street
- 105 Street from River Valley Road to 100 Avenue
- The High Level Bridge
Project TENSOR will target most traffic offences including but not limited to:
- Speeding
- Noise Related Offences
- Stunting
- Helmet Violations
- General Equipment Violations
- Occupant Restraints
- Other Hazardous Moving Violations
- Suspended Drivers
- Document Offences and
- Criminal Code Offences (including file numbers)
As part of Project TENSOR, officers will also be hosting the first of several “Amnesty Testing Events” for motorcycle riders this Thursday, May 28th, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the NAIT South Campus parking lot, 7110 Gateway Boulevard.
Motorcycle owners are invited to have their bikes tested to see if they comply with the noise bylaw. If they don’t comply, the owner will be required to update the bike’s exhaust to meet noise bylaw standards by a certain date, as determined by the officer. The EPS Traffic Safety Branch will announce additional Amnesty Testing Events throughout the summer.
