WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — Speed cameras are coming to Wheat Ridge.
The city recently approved three cameras expected in the first quarter of next year. FOX31 found out why, where and how they’ll be enforced.
Speed signs, speed readers and flashing slow-down signs serve as a warning on a number of local streets but some drivers feel they aren’t stopping speeders in Wheat Ridge.
“People like to go 60 miles an hour wherever they are,” Local driver MaryAnn Nyman said.
The city of Wheat Ridge has been monitoring speed on streets and side streets.
“We’ve been collecting data over the course of a week for almost two years now,” said Wheat Ridge Police Public Information Officer Alex Rose. “We don’t really see that changing people’s behavior based on the data. And so we’re thinking if the flashing light sign isn’t going to get you to slow down, maybe a ticket in the mail will.”
WRPD plans to roll out three speed cameras in the first quarter of next year. Rose said that if a camera catches someone speeding, they could get a $40 fine in the mail.
“We’re not hiding these, there is going to be signage,” Rose said. “We’re required by law to put signage right up where these speed cameras are. So the stated goal for us is just to make sure that people slow down on these roads, especially in a place like Wheat Ridge High, where there’s a lot of foot traffic.”
Rose told FOX31 that another camera could be installed around West 44th Avenue by Anderson Park and a third will be deployed with the crash and traffic team.
“At the end of the day, this is really just about keeping our roads safe,” Rose said. “There’s going to be money generated by these automated speed cams. That money goes to the city’s general fund. So it doesn’t necessarily go directly to our department. It could go to things like building sidewalks and bike lanes and improving our parks here in Wheat Ridge.”
“Anything to slow people down, I think it’d be a really good thing,” Nyman said.
According to WRPD, there is a sworn officer who has to verify each of these tickets. During the first month of rolling the cameras out, warnings will be issued in the mail.
