Bum's Bluff

Beltline Blues

This may come off as a whiny speeder rant - if so, my apologies. For the record, I didn't get caught.

Apparently not to be outdone by the Town of Madison, the City of Madison held a nifty little sting operation this morning on the Beltline. I counted four squad cars, a motorcycle cop, and a roadside assistance truck running the operation in the eastbound lane between Stoughton Road and the Interstate to get the morning rush hour speeders.

On the surface, this is a great plan -- traffic thins out enough after Stoughton Road that those who have been tailgating the slow moving (60-65 mph) cars since Park Street finally have enough room to cut across lanes and speed to the Interstate at around 70-75 mph. The State Patrol will occasionally set up a car just past Stoughton Road to catch these speeders.

Here is the problem -- because the Beltline goes over Stoughton Road with a curve added for flavor, the road beyond the intersection is not in line of sight. Rarely is there any sort of slow down however, since half of the traffic just exited at Stoughton Road. Imagine the look of horror in the drivers' eyes this morning when the sped over the viaduct and suddenly saw traffic at a standstill (I kid you not!) cause they are all slowing waaaaaay down to see who got pulled over for speeding.

The fact that you are driving into the sun is not helpful. Nor is the Roadside Assistance Truck the police have set up with flashing lights warning that the left shoulder is closed (so they have room to pull over speeders). Not only is there the potential for a major multi-car accident, but the very police officers involved are now putting their lives in jeopardy since they are standing in the path of potential escape route for a driver who might not have seen the traffic jam in time.
Funny thing is, I thought catching speeders was meant to make the roads safer.

posted by Walton @ 11:03 AM