Speed cameras are coming to Colorado highways this spring
Colorado Department of Transportation cracks down on speeding and aims to reduce work zone fatalities with new cameras
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive
The Colorado Department of Transportation is developing a program that would place photo radar cameras along major roadways as early as spring 2025.
The department’s is aimed at helping enforce speed limits by issuing warnings and citations to drivers caught speeding without filling the roads with more troopers.
The program’s first target? Work zones.
CDOT technology and traffic operations manager Ben Acimovic said the project will deploy cameras in one pilot site in the spring as their “primary safety focus,” with the possibility of adding up to four additional work zones within the calendar year.
Although specific locations for the cameras have yet to be confirmed, Interstate 70’s Floyd Hill and Glenwood Canyon were both thrown out as possible locations for speed enforcement cameras during a .
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CDOT considered the possibility of speed cameras in 2023 and again in 2024 when the Colorado legislature updated a traffic regulation statute to allow speed safety cameras 鈥� also referred to as 鈥� on all highways.
Reducing crashes and fatalities in work zones became a bigger priority for CDOT after reports showed an increase in work zone-related deaths over the past two years. Overall work zone-related crashes in Colorado have decreased by over 500 between 2023 and 2024. In the past five years, the highest number of work zone accidents occurred in 2021, when there were nearly 2,000 crashes.
“We expect the 2024 numbers to rise as we finalize our crash data over the next year,” Acimovic said during the workshop.
Although total crashes near work zones have gone down, fatalities and serious injuries have gone up.
Work zone-related fatalities in Colorado increased from 10 in 2022 to 16 in 2023, before nearly doubling to 31 in 2024.
Speeding is a common factor in crashes that result in fatalities or serious injuries. Colorado State Troopers investigated involving a speeding driver in 2024.
Acimovic said CDOT’s research into other states that have speed monitoring showed the cameras increase safety. Successful programs in Connecticut, Maryland, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania have seen a reduction in serious injuries and roadway fatalities by 20% to 37%.
In general, speed enforcement cameras by up to 54% and decrease injury-related crashes by up to 47%, according to CDOT.
How it works
Automated photo radar cameras use beams to detect vehicle speeds and display them in real time. Once the cameras detect speeding violations, they capture images of the driver and license plate, which the system uses to send out notifications to the driver and collect civil penalties, when applicable.
The state department is legally required to notify the public about the cameras and their location 30 days before they’re installed. The department will also place signs throughout the corridor warning drivers about the photo radar enforcement ahead.
“This is not a ‘gotcha’ program,” Acimovic said. “We want to get word out, and we want to get very transparent about what we’re planning to do on our roadways.”
After the cameras are installed, CDOT will allow for a warning period where drivers who violate the speed limit receive a warning notice instead of a citation.
“This is not a revenue-generating initiative,” CDOT chief engineer Keith Stefanik said. “We will not break even on this for many years. We will be using our safety dollars to push forward this initiative.”
Even after the warning period, drivers will receive warnings for their first offense, followed by civil offense tickets for subsequent violations.
The program’s pilot year is expected to cost between $2 million and $5 million, depending on enforcement hours, the number of sites and citations issued.
“At the end of the day, this could be a game changer, especially in our work zones,” Stefanik said.
