DOUGLAS COUNTY — Colorado State Patrol troopers are giving fair warning about increasing their presence and cracking down on speeders through the I-25 gap project. "Put more patrol cars on the ground, more motorcycles on the ground, and more aircraft overhead looking for speeders,” said Captain J.P. Burt with Colorado State Patrol.
The nearly 20-mile construction zone is a top priority in the state for enforcement. The speed limit is 60, yet troopers are regularly pulling drivers over for going 20 to 40 over the posted limit. "While we're still writing just as many tickets as we did last year, the speeds are much higher than they were at this time last year. And, with that we're seeing a lot more impaired driving than we were this time last year," said Burt. Consider that this year compared to last there are fewer vehicles on the road because of COVID-19 restrictions.
"We would prefer voluntary compliance," said Burt. For those needing added incentive, he points to the amount for fines in a construction zone. "Some of these tickets can be very expensive ..over $600 for speeds 20 over the speed limit.” The fine jumps even more if the violation of following too close is also happening.
State Patrol shared data from a nine-day enforcement period at the end of April. It represents a stretch of I-25 from northern El Paso County to the northern end of Douglas County. Just over 250 speeding tickets were issued. There were four for driving too close. 11 for reckless/careless driving. And six for driving under the influence. Most of the citations were issued in the area of the I-25 Gap project.
