Independence, Ohio Speed Traps

Cop hangs out on side streets and in driveways on eastern side of 77.

School zone along Brecksville Rd through the business district extends well beyond the boundary of the school and, particularly when north-bound, it is not clear that you are still in a school zone after you have passed the school.

Independence police sitting on Rockside waiting for cars to come by, knowing the average speed is 50+ since it’s a long straightaway until Broadview intersection.

Anyone who regularly drives I-77 in northern Ohio is familiar with the consistently high level of revenue-enhancement that goes on between Akron and Cleveland. All of the stops are pulled out here, from using traffic units that barely meet the legal limits as defined by the motor vehicle laws to outright ambush tactics. I’m rather surprised that this trap hasn’t been listed yet… When northbound on I-77 after passing the Pleasant Valley Road exit (Exit 156), there is another overpass that you drive under before coming to the next exit at Rockside Road (Exit 155). This is the Chestnut Road overpass. Many, many times, I’ve seen an Independence unit parked discretely up on Chestnut Road and an officer on foot hiding in the brush on the south-facing side of the bridge pointing their radar or lidar guns at northbound vehicles. When they find a suitable target, they call one of the chase units, who hide behind the north side of the bridge, to take them down. When I lived in neighboring Broadview Heights, I’d listen to Independence PD on the home scanner while they ran this trap.

Independence police love to sit in the cemetary and clock motorists between Canal Road and Brecksville Road just as you come up the hill. You will never be able to see them, they hide deep in the driveway.