Tickets issued for driving on Pueblo bike lanes
Drivers caught illegally crossing into new bike lanes will face a $95 ticket.
Pueblo police have written three tickets since they began enforcement this week but KRDO NewsChannel 13 caught several drivers on camera commuting on the bike lane.
“I saw two people go by while you were here that should have had citations for driving in the wrong lanes,” said Kenn Watts, who lives on Elizabeth Street.
Earlier this month, the city turned one lane of traffic on Elizabeth Street into a bike lane from 24th Street South to 18th Street.
“I think they’re a great idea, especially going up through here on Elizabeth because the only other bike lanes are on Union,” said bicyclist Jake Kes.
The city’s traffic engineer hopes the bike lanes will slow down traffic in areas like Elizabeth Street, where the speed limit is 30 mph. Residents are torn over whether drivers are actually slowing down.
“I love the new bike lanes, and simply because it does slow down the traffic,” said Angie Duran, who also lives on Elizabeth Street.
Watts disagrees. “From my observation, they haven’t slowed down.”
Bicyclist Joseph Spinuzii appreciates the city’s efforts to create 9 miles of new bike lanes. “A lot of times we’ll have cars drive right next to us, you know, and it’s kind of scary when you have oncoming traffic coming about 30 mph and you’re going close to 20. You know it’s really scary to have something coming at you like that,” he said.
Sgt. Eric Gonzales said the three tickets issued this week were written for drivers on Elizabeth Street. “We’re keeping an eye on those lanes for the safety of bicyclists as well as the safety of people and pedestrians.”
But Kes doesn’t feel a $95 ticket is sufficient. “If it was just property damage or something like that, I could understand $95 but when you’re talking about a life- that’s irreplaceable. There’s no amount of money that could ever cover that.”
Bicyclists will find 2.26 miles of a newly created bike lane on Goodnight/Cleveland streets; 4.62 miles on Orman and 1.25 miles on Greenwood from 18th Street to 24th Street, in addition to the stretch on Elizabeth Street.
