Lyons, Colorado Speed Traps

Deputies on foot or in cars hide amongst businesses and cars parked along road. Speed drops from 50 to 25 as you enter town of Lyons.

Hwy 36/7 from the 25 mph sign at the east of town to the45 mph sign on the west.

Boulder Sheriff lurks on the West side of 5th Ave, and picks off speeders coming down Hwy 7 (South St. Vrain Dr.)just as they enter town (headed North). The speed limit drops to 25 at that location.

Lyons has long been known as a speed trap for those traveling to and from Rocky Mountain National Park, for which Lyons markets itself as the "Double Gateway". Having no police force of its own, the Town of Lyons has contracted with the Boulder County Sheriffs Department for all of its law enforcement since 1989. Before and after, speed control issues have been an ongoing tug-of-war between local pedestrian traffic and the business district — that is, the business community loathes to have Lyons pegged as a speed trap since such a reputation drives off business, while local residents worry that their kids cannot cross the street safely unless traffic is calmed.

Having said this, the most common (and efficient) speed trap occurs regularly at US 36/66 (known locally as Main Street) and 3rd Avenue.

For the morning traffic headed west-bound towards RMNP, officers will routinely deploy their enforcement vehicle either at the west end of the Royal Wok Chinese Restaurant parking lot up against a fence, or a 1/4 block further west at the stop sign facing south at the intersection of 3rd and Main. From this location, they run radar/lidar on both westbound (Main Street) and eastbound traffic (Broadway). They will also run their trap later in the day while parked at the stop sign facing south at 3rd and Broadway. This is by far the best spot to nail traffic returning from the Park. In all three locations, the trap vehicle can usually only be readily seen only after you are practically on top of it.

Lyons Town Council recently decided to again step up speed enforcement and members even publicly lamented the Town was missing out on a real "cash cow" by not running more speed traps. To that end, the Town recently purchased a retired police cruiser from the BCS, silkscreened the words "Lyons Traffic Enforcement Vehicle" on its sides, and planted a homemade dummy wearing a ball cap in the driver’s seat. This car is moved about town near the above described traps and parked for several hours at a time. People who see the car think it is a real cop and hit their brakes. When they discover it is a fake, they often return to their previous speeds as they approach the traps described above.

The Lyons Town Council is also looking into acquiring Photo Radar as a revenue enhancement tool for the Town.

Many people who have been stung in Lyons now travel to RMNP using alternate routes Colorado 119 through Nederland or U.S. 34 through Loveland in order to avoid Lyons altogether.

They are strict on anything!