WELD COUNTY, Colo. — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has placed eight temporary speed cameras along a work zone between Mead and Berthoud. Starting March 1, warnings will be issued for speeders.
This will be the second work zone to get these cameras; the first was along Highway 119 between Longmont and Boulder.
“We looked at crash data statewide, and noticed a lot of crashes in this area that were related to speed, and this work zone really did need to have these speed enforcement cameras," Stacia Sellers, a spokesperson for CDOT, said.
“Having these cameras catch speeders helps to really get into that mindset that you must follow the speed limit in these vulnerable areas," she added.
After 30 days, the warning period will be over, and speeders along the corridor will receive a hefty fine of $75 starting April 2.
The violation will not add points to a driver’s license and drivers have 45 days to pay the $75 or appeal it.
According to CDOT, preliminary data from the cameras shows that more than 10% of drivers in the work zone drive more than 10 mph above the 65-mph speed limit.
Sellers added that in the days the cameras have been tested, CDOT has already noticed a 10% reduction in speed along this section of I-25.
“We hope that this really shows how beneficial this program will be on I-25 between Mead and Berthoud,” she said.
“This corridor does have a little bit more challenges. You do have a higher speed limit along I-25. It's typically a straighter interstate as well. So, we do see a lot or higher rates of speed along I-25,” she said.
But not everyone agrees that these cameras are the best way to stop speeders along the stretch.
Longtime Berthoud resident Ron Quintana says he uses I-25 daily. He said he didn't think the cameras were going to solve the problem.
“I mean, it doesn't matter to them while they're speeding," he said. "It's already going to be after the fact, the accidents are still going to happen."
“People don't care; they're just going to keep speeding," he added. "And you know, it's a hazard there because of all the construction that's going on, and so I don't see where cameras are going to do any good."
Instead, he believes something more needs to be done to solve the ongoing issue, suggesting having a police presence along the work zone.
“People see a cop, they see a police car, they see people pulled over, they'll get it real quick that they got to be careful around that area because it's so dangerous,” he said.
But once the construction comes to an end, Quintana believes the speeding issue will too.
“It was always a problem there, and it always will be a problem until they get that construction done,” he said.
Sellers says the installation of the cameras along Highway 119 has been successful, noting that CDOT saw an 80% reduction in speeds when they started the warning period for that corridor last year.
Sellers said CDOT hopes to have similar success with the cameras along I-25.
According to Sellers, there are signs at the beginning of the enforcement zone notifying drivers of the speed limit and that traffic laws are enforced. There are also camera assembly signs at least 300 feet before each camera, she said.
The cameras will be removed in the work zone once the I-25 North Express Lanes Project — which is creating new express lanes in both directions — is complete. Its projected completion is 2028.
CDOT says revenue collected from the penalties will be used to fund their Speed Enforcement Program and excess funds will go towards the Vulnerable Road User Protection Enterprise.
CDOT says part of their outreach to notify drivers about the cameras included updating the map on their Speed Enforcement Program website in January.
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