Fort Collins using cameras, mobile van to ticket speeders in 'speed corridors'

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The City of Fort Collins is turning to automated cameras and a mobile van in order to catch speeders in the city's "speed corridors."

The speed corridors were determined based on five years of traffic data. Lieutenant Michael Avrech with the Fort Collins Police Services said the data allowed them to narrow in on specific problematic roadways.

"We were looking specifically at crashes where serious injuries occurred or fatalities, and then incidences of writing citations for speeding and reckless driving,” said Avrech.

Twenty-one stretches of roadway were listed as speed corridors, including six intersections:

• Drake Road and Lemay Avenue
• Harmony Drive and Timberline Road
• Harmony Road and Shields Street
• Prospect Road and Shields Street
• Mulberry Street and Shields Street
• College Avenue and Drake Road

Red-light cameras at the intersections will be converted to automatic radar cameras, which will ticket speeders.

Denver7's Ethan Carlson

The other 15 locations have not yet been revealed, but the city said it will give 30 days' notice before any changes are made. There will also be a 30-day grace period after the system is installed where drivers will be issued warnings rather than citations.

According to the city, citations will be issued if a driver is caught traveling 10mph or more over the speed limit. The citation will not count against your driving record unless you're going more than 25 mph over the limit.

The city will install automated radar cameras at some speed corridors, while others will be monitored by mobile vans that will change locations.

“We're also going to add two transportable units, which look kind of like an electrical box,” said Avrech. “Those would be moved, probably on a 30-day basis, around town to address as many of the speed corridors as possible, or where we're receiving more complaints or seeing more problems.”

Denver7's Ethan Carlson

The city is required to post signage within 300 feet of a speed corridor and also within 300 feet of any camera. Even with these safeguards in place, some residents are concerned that this is just a way for the city to make money.

“I’m definitely in favor of the red light cameras,” said Fort Collins resident Bill Liley. “I think it's a real plague, people running red lights. I've had the wife of a friend killed as a result of somebody running a red light. The speed cameras, for me, are primarily a revenue generator. So, I support the red light cameras, not that much in favor of the speed cameras.”

Avrech said this isn’t for more money but instead to make the city safer.

“All of the revenue that's generated from red light cameras or our speed vans... the revenue generated from that will go to traffic safety,” said Avrech. "However we can try to reduce the speed in town or to reduce traffic-related problems, that money is specifically earmarked for that and it cannot be used for any other reason.”

Avrech cites things like signage and speed bumps as potential ways to spend the collected money. Still, Liley isn’t convinced this is a good idea.

“It's still revenue,” said Liley. “I think there are ways that government legitimately covers the costs of necessary services. I'm less inclined to see this as one of those legitimate avenues of revenue generation.”

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