Intersection Safety Cameras are in place at 140 high-crash intersections around the province, including the Island Hwy./Aulds Rd./Hammond Bay Rd. junction (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Improved compliance

Camera-monitored high-crash intersections appear to have the attention of Nanaimo drivers

Jun 26, 2025 | 4:07 PM

NANAIMO — Significant progress was made on red-light runners at a pair of monitored Harbour City intersections in 2024.

Newly released B.C. government data showed 857 total violators at Nanaimo’s two provincially monitored intersections last year: Island Hwy/Norwell Dr./Bowen Rd., and Island Hwy./Aulds Rd./Hammond Bay Rd.

In 2023, 1,139 motorists were nabbed at the two intersections, representing 25 per cent more compared to last year.

The north Nanaimo intersection monitors both speeders and red-light violators, while the central Nanaimo junction solely detects red-light offenders.

In 2022, 998 violators received tickets, while 767 infractions at the two Nanaimo intersections were recorded in 2021 (skewed by COVID-19 health restrictions).

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Red light progress
Following a staggering 838 red-light runners at the Island Hwy/Norwell Dr./Bowen Rd. intersection in 2023, 605 were recorded last year (28 per cent reduction), while 663 offenders were nabbed in 2022.

At the north Nanaimo intersection, a nearly 50 per cent decrease in red-light violators was recorded last year with 76, down from 150 in 2023.

However, Island Hwy./Aulds Rd./Hammond Bay Rd. saw a bump in speeders with 176 last year, compared to 152 in 2023, 209 in 2022, and 169 during reduced pandemic-era traffic volumes in 2021.

In March 2020, the province lowered the speed limit by 10 kilometres to 70 km/h on the Island Hwy. from Enterprise Way northward to where the highway and the Nanaimo Parkway join just north of the Woodgrove Crossing shopping complex.

RoadSafetyBC, under the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, operates Intersection Safety Cameras (ISC) at 140 high-risk intersections across the province 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

There are 105 automated cameras overseeing red-light violators at intersections, while red-light and speeders are tracked at 35 intersections.

According to the B.C. government, there were 80,430 red light violators across the province last year, and 46,570 speeders for a total of 127,000, representing about 20,000 more violators than in 2023.

The threshold of what constitutes a speeding violation in the eyes of the B.C. government under the ISC program has not been publicly revealed.

Nanaimo’s two ISC intersections topped ICBC’s recently released intersection crash data report for last year, which showed 73 motor vehicle collisions at the Island Hwy/Bowen Rd. intersection, and 72 on the Island Hwy. at Hammond Bay Rd.

The province’s ISC program is unrelated to the City of Nanaimo’s growing network of data-collecting intersection cameras, which helps manage traffic flows and aids in community planning.

Automated camera monitors red light violators at the busy Island Hwy./Bowen Rd./Norwell Dr. intersection. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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