Alma, Colorado Speed Traps

After a day of skiing in Breckenridge I decided to take a scenic drive on Highway 9, as someone told me it was a pretty drive, not to mention, an alternate route to I70 to get back to Denver and the airport. Off I went, enjoying the scenery. Speed limit is mostly 55 – 65 mph, with nominal traffic. You come out of the mountains and start descending into the town of Alma, which pops up on your unexpectedly. As you’re coming DOWN THE HILL into the town, I got popped by radar going 43 in a 30 mph zone. The “officer” immediately said I was “speeding,” and then proceeded to spell “speeding” to me. No break for being out of town and unfamiliar with the area, not seeing the speed limit sign, nor for coming DOWN A HILL into town, in spite of the fact he indicated I was continuing to slow as he clocked me. Became pretty obvious this was an income racket by the local municipality. Either AVOID ALMA altogether, or beware!

Heading South on Colorado Highway 9 about 45 minutes or an hour south of Frisco, you come across the small town of Alma, population 270 per Wikipedia. You come up a small rise, where I was told there was reduced speed limit sign of 30 MPH but I don’t recall seeing it. As I made it over the rise, I saw a 30 MPH sign up ahead and started reducing speed. The Chief of Police, likely the only policy officer in town, stopped me and said that as I came over the rise I was doing 49, which I had dropped to 44 as I passed him. I told him that was because I saw the 30 MPH sign up ahead and put on the brakes. That is when he informed me that there was an earlier sign. Invited me to take $137 directly over to the Clerk of Courts, which shared space with the Town Library around the corner. No breaks for an out of towner, in a rental car, unfamiliar with the area. As nice of a drive as Highway 9 is, I will probably stick to I-70 and I-25 to get to Pueblo.

Only income for small town, they prey on skier traffic, sometimes has dummy in car rather than live dummy also heading south, fairplay has much enforcement, Beware

The town of Alma is a speed trap that they are proud of .. The Marshall their gets his wages by the number of tickets that are written.. You have a town of approx. 100 people and there is never a time you won’t find an officer running traffic through town .. Watch YOUR SPEED they have been know to write for 2-3 MPH over..

Probably one of the worst Speed Traps in Colorado, if not the entire U.S. The department consist entirely of about a dozen Part time Academy gradutes who have been trained in nothing but traffic enforcement. The tickets they write is directly connected to their part-time pay. If you have any way of avoiding this highway through Alma, do so. If you have to travel through this town… SLOW DOWN and don’t stop, the town makes enough money in ticket revenue.