Zanesville, Ohio Speed Traps

Yesterday – Feb 27th. 2013 they City Police & So. Zanesville PD had 3 cars pulled over around 8 in the morning. Fridays payday & the 1st. of the month they have lots more revenue coming in next week coz people will have a little extra cash. So. Zanesville PD runs license plates (scanner) every 15 minutes clear through Sunday at 2 in the morning. Friend of mine about a month ago pulled into Campbells Food Mart, blue light came on behind him / said he was going 37 in a 35 & he swerved (potholes)… checked him out & let him go. Thats just the type of harassment that happens here on a daily basis. They diffidently profile.

US 22 goes through this 2 mile section. SZPD will ticket you for no lane change signal, not using a turn signal, not coming to complete, complete stop, any trival infraction. They write many tickets each and every day. The State Patrol monitors US 22 south of So. Zanesville to the Somerset, Lancaster area bout evey day also. The people of Zanesville say they don’t like going to So. Zanesville in fear of being ticketed.

Northpoint Road, originally planned as a bypass route for State Route 60, between Zanesville, OH & Dresden, OH, quickly found its fame as not only being a shorter route, but a costlier route.

Speed zones vary from:
* 40 MPH (State Route 146 to Brandywine Blvd)
* 35 MPH (Brandywine Blvd to Highpointe Drive)
* 40 MPH (Highpointe Drive to Richvale Road)
* 55 MPH (Richvale Drive to the junction of State Route 60 / Main Street in Dresden, OH)

Enforcement of this road is split between 4 separate entities:
* Ohio State Highway patrol
* Muskingum County Sheriff
* Zanesville City Police
* Dresden Village Police (1 mile section between St. Marys Church Road & Main Street Dresden, OH)

There exist many conflicts of interest over which entity has the right to enforce a traffic stop (as city, township & village boundaries skip back & forth across the expanse of this road). Though all 4 seem to not mind, as Northpoint Road became a Toll Road in disguise.

Limited sight distances plague sections of this road as well, since it traverses several hills and valleys. There are no pavement reflectors, and the painted lines are obscured in many places by tar sealant / crack repairs. In other words, it’s quite easy to find yourself out of a “designated” lane, without even knowing it.

Street lighting only exists on a 1.5 mile section, entering the Zanesville Northpointe Industrial park. The rest, is pure blackness, and a little unnerving when driving at night.

Way too easy for the enforcement officials to sit, with parking lights off, on the dirt shoulder.

Northpointe Road averages a minimum of 12-20 speed enforcement stops daily. While some are simply let off with warnings, most get the basic $73 – $80 ticket.

A second issue is that since Northpoint Road did NOT get S.R. 60 Bypass (or even a re-routed designation). It conflicts with the City of Zanesville ordinances that all truck/commercial bus traffic remain on State Routes. So yes, you will occasionally see trucks & tour buses headed to & fro’ from Longaberger (Dresden, OH) Basket Tours…get hassled as well.

On straight stretches around Zanesville, beware of white lines on road! That’s how they clock you in quarter-mile incriments. When I got picked up, there were 5 Highway patrol cars around a turn past the straight stretch. They took off after me and another guy that had been keeping the pace with me. What a quick way to spend $75!