Lone Tree's speeding ticket spike

• Police wrote 221 tickets between January and June, up from 40 during the same period last year.

Driving the news: RidgeGate once cut through largely open land. Now, drivers pass apartments, municipal projects, retail construction and nearby single-family home sites.

• Planners designed the area for future pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly growth, while ongoing construction has brought traffic, new intersections and an ever-evolving driving environment.

What they’re saying: “We're educating our citizens that speed limits aren't a suggestion,” Lone Tree police's patrol commander Ron Pinson tells Axios.

Zoom in: Officers sometimes clock drivers going 70 mph or faster, Pinson says.

• The construction zone speed limit in the middle of the 3-mile strip is 35 mph and increases to 45 mph on both sides.
• Police deployed standalone radar trailers that show drivers' speeds — and flash red as they blaze through.

Yes, but: Drivers still regularly speed past the city's new justice center, new apartment buildings and a King Soopers Marketplace under construction.

RidgeGate’s changing elevations create a twisting drive that dips and darts past developments built between the road's divided lanes.

• Sun glare can also complicate drivers’ views.

My thought bubble: RidgeGate opened roughly 15 years ago and can feel more like the Autobahn than a route between Parker and I-25. I’ve watched drivers race and weave through traffic, and I once saw the aftermath from a car-bicycle collision near the interstate.

Why it matters: Police worry unchecked speeding will become increasingly dangerous as development brings more pedestrians and bicyclists to the corridor.

• “I don’t want to see a bunch of white crosses popping up," Pinson says.

What’s next: Lone Tree could eventually consider speed cameras in construction zones along the road.

• Nothing’s imminent.
• Pinson wants to study an automated enforcement program in Wheat Ridge and whether cameras change driver behavior.