A proposal to increase the speed limit at a Poole junction, which is on course to generate £1 million in speeding fines this year, has been rejected.
The “speed on green” cameras, labelled “greed on green” by critics, catch motorists passing through the Holes Bay Road junction with Sterte Road at more than 30mph.
Cllr Phil Eades questioned whether the speed limit was appropriate for the dual carriageway and presented a motion to Borough of Poole calling for it to be raised to 40mph.
However the council’s transportation advisory group recommended that the 30mph speed limit remains in place.
Cllr Eades said there were higher speed limits at more dangerous junctions in the borough and the only conclusion was that the speed-on-green camera was for “revenue generation, not road safety”.
He said 7,000 tickets had been issued going into town and none going out – where shortly after the junction the speed limit was raised to 50mph.
“To me that’s daft. It’s either safe or it isn’t,” he said. “It can’t be safe one way and not the other.”
He said the junction was generating £100,000 a month. “I think it’s a total set up. I’m not a speed camera crusader but that’s not right.”
A report by Martin Baker of the borough’s transportation services department, which went to the group, said one pedestrian had expressed concerns about a “number of near misses” with vehicles.
And the estimated cost of raising the speed limit to 40mph was £24,000 for signs, advertising, modifications to the traffic signal junctions and an anti-skid surface.
“There is a risk that accidents and therefore casualties will increase if the speed limit is raised,” said the report.
Dorset Police have said the camera and limit were a reflection of “community concern” not casualty reduction – and the cameras could yet fall victim to the funding cuts.
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