Green Mountain Falls aquires speed camera to curb speeding in, around town
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — In a mountain town with a population of slightly more than 600, you wouldn’t expect speeding to be an issue.
But third-year mayor Todd Dixon said that it’s what his constituents ask him about the most.
“We don’t have a 24/7 police force,” he explained. “We just have a marshal and a deputy, and obviously, they can’t be here every day, 365 days a year.”
The mayor stated that a 24-hour traffic survey conducted by Marshal Sean Goings found that between 40 and 60 vehicles traveling through town were exceeding the 25 mph speed limit by at least ten or fifteen miles per hour.
Dixon said that Goings found a solution.
“Earlier this year — probably in August or September — the marshal came to us and said there was a company that would, basically, put a speed camera in,” the mayor recalled. “And they would just share in the revenues from the tickets. That’s how they would get paid. So, it’s literally a no-cost issue for the town.”
The camera, which went online on Wednesday, is a mobile unit that records drivers who exceed the speed limit, takes photos of the license plates, and sends the owners a $40 citation.
“Our goal isn’t to make a profit,” Dixon insisted. “We’re just trying to get people to slow down. The biggest concern we have is a child or a pedestrian being hit, injured, or killed.
To that end, the town has also installed a radar speed sign on Ute Pass Avenue, the main street there; it alerts drivers to their speed and compares it to the posted speed limit.
Dixon said that for the first 30 days, violators will have a grace period from camera fines and receive only a warning.
The mayor also revealed that speeding is a concern not only in town, but on US 24 above the town, past two connecting intersections.
Dixon said that the marshal’s survey found highway speeds often exceeding the 55 mph limit, with one driver going as fast as 93 mph.
“I was thinking there were around 13 incidents from 2017 to 2023,” he said.
Goings is asking the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to install two cameras, one in each direction, on the highway.
“Our jurisdiction includes both sides of the highway,” Dixon said.
The mayor said that Goings is gathering data on traffic citations from the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) and crash data from CDOT to further justify the need for highway cameras.
“It could take months to get a decision,” Dixon said.
The town’s Board of Trustees recently passed an ordinance authorizing Goings to take action in the matter.
“I’ve also heard that Chipita Park (a neighboring town) is also having speeding issues.” Dixon said.