Although some residents claim the location is “sneaky,” Morrison police say there are no immediate plans to move the speed trap outside the city’s eastern limits.
The location across from an ice cream shop is crucial for families looking for something sweet. Plus, the highly visible location protects the camera from vandals, said Police Chief Bill Vinelli. And the camera does what city leaders hoped it would, he said — slow down drivers.
Morrison Trustee Adam Way asked about the location of the radar device during the board meeting on August 20.
The automated camera, which has been issuing tickets since May 8, is on a trailer parked on Bear Creek Avenue. It is designed to monitor the speed of motorists leaving the city at the east end toward Colorado 470 and issue tickets if they drive 10 mph faster than the 25 mph posted speed limit in Morrison. Outside the city limits, the speed limit increases from 25 to 40 mph.
In the first 13 days, the camera recorded nearly 9,000 speeders – that’s almost 1.36 tickets per minute. Each confirmed ticket carries a $40 fine.
“Is it going to stay in this location?” Way asked. “A lot of people have talked about the location, in terms of … where the speed limit is 40 miles per hour. This location seems a little inconvenient because people are coming from the city. People are keeping up with traffic and starting to speed up. I’m getting a lot of feedback from people that maybe we could move it somewhere else.”
“I feel like when people come to Morrison, they want to have fun,” he continued. “If they get a ticket, then go home and get (another) ticket, they might say, ‘I don’t want to go to Morrison anymore.'”
Vinelli said the camera will stay where it is for now for several reasons. The trailer is across Bear Creek Avenue from Willy’s Wings and Ozzi’s Ice Cream Shop, both of which draw a lot of foot traffic.
“The radar is not on the back of the 40-mph sign,” he said. “It’s at Willy’s and Ozzi’s; that’s a very dangerous place to speed when people are running across the street to get ice cream.”
The current location also serves to protect the city’s investment. Morrison paid Traffic Logix $30,000 each for two of the cameras; the second camera has not yet been installed or activated.
“My hesitation to move it to Red Rocks or further up Highway 8 is because it’s not as widely observed,” he said. “I don’t want someone to hitch a chain to their pickup truck and drive it six miles up the canyon and throw it over a cliff. If someone down here messes with it, we’ll get a call.”
City Manager Mallory Nassau said the city will likely select a new location later.
“I think there will be more to report,” she said. “We are looking at different options and gathering some data. I would expect a location change at some point.”
Despite the public criticism, Vinelli said the camera is doing exactly what city leaders had hoped it would.
Bear Creek Avenue in Morrison is both a state highway and the city’s main street, attracting an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 visitors a day on summer weekends. Pedestrian safety has long been a concern for the city.
“Our primary goal was to increase public safety, and we are achieving that,” Vinelli said.
Mayor Chris Wolfe said he recently noticed a number of cars traveling near the camera at 22 miles per hour.
“It was nice to see that,” he said. “… I think people are becoming aware of it and it’s starting to slow them down.”
The frequency with which the camera catches speeding drivers has dropped significantly, as has the speed of the drivers themselves. In July, 12,637 drivers were caught speeding. In total, the camera has so far resulted in more than 35,000 tickets.
Not all drivers who violate the law receive a ticket. Many tickets are declared void for various reasons, such as because the vehicles are emergency vehicles or because the license plates are missing or obscured.
The camera brings in significant revenue for Morrison, but city leaders say it’s too early to give exact numbers. For every $40 fine, Morrison keeps $28. The rest goes to administrative fees, including payments to Emergent Enforcement Solutions, the third-party vendor that processes the tickets.
Morrison also has a managed, paid parking system that generates revenue for the city.
