Basalt considers traffic enforcement cameras on Highway 82

The town of Basalt heard a presentation on Tuesday from the Basalt Police Department and Dacra Tech, a software company that runs speed enforcement software on traffic cameras, about the potential installation of traffic cameras in Basalt. 

The stretch of road in question is roughly one to one half miles in length, depending on which direction a driver is traveling, from the Basalt Avenue and Highway 82 intersection to the east Two Rivers Road and Highway 82 intersection. 

This is an area where the speed limit drops from 55 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour. For drivers traveling upvalley toward Aspen, the limit drops between mile marker 22 and 23 before the Basalt Avenue intersection, extending past the east Two Rivers Road intersection to mile marker 24. 

For downvalley drivers, the 45 miles per hour zone starts after the Two Rivers Road intersection, 1,000 feet before the Basalt Avenue intersection halfway between mile markers 23 and 24. The 45 miles per hour zone ends quickly after the Basalt Avenue intersection, almost exactly at mile marker 23. 

According to data presented to the councilors on Tuesday night, a majority of drivers passing through that 45 miles per hour zone are not slowing down to the posted speed. 

“You have a 45 miles per hour speed limit there,” Knox told councilors. “The 85th percentile speed is 59 miles per hour in that area, so what that means is that 14 miles per hour over the speed limit is close to the average 85% of the time.”

The zones immediately before and after the 45 miles per hour zone have an 85th percentile speed of around 60 miles per hour, only around five miles per hour above the posted speed limit. 

Councilor Hannah Berman asked about crash data in the area, which was not available at the time from presenters. 

But data from the Colorado Department of Transportation from the beginning of 2023 through the end of 2025 shows that there were 74 crashes between mile markers 23 and 24 on Highway 82. Of those 74, 30 crashes occurred within zones displaying a posted 45 miles per hour speed limit, and two of those accidents involved a driver exceeding posted speeds by more than 10 miles per hour. Neither accident resulted in a fatality or injury, according to the data. 

State statutes ensure that citations from cameras are only issued to drivers exceeding 10 miles per hour above the posted speed limit, according to Lieutenant Aaron Munch of the Basalt Police Department. 

Dacra Tech operates their software on cameras supplied by Traffic Logix, a company that makes an array of traffic management systems including speed cameras. Dacra Tech’s software takes information from the camera, processes a potential speed violation, and sends it to human employees to review and, ultimately, send to the local police to process. 

In Colorado, traffic cameras must be pre-empted by signs warning drivers of their presence. The installation of a new camera also requires an early warning period, where drivers cannot be issued citations and are instead informed that a camera is in place and issued warnings.

The traffic system would be leased from Dacra Tech, with no upfront cost for the installation. Instead, it would take a cut from citations and give the remainder to the lessee — in this case, Basalt. Knox emphasized that Basalt will not ever be in debt to Dacra Tech, as Dacra Tech’s cut comes from actual collected revenues, so ignored citations won’t negatively affect the town. 

To address privacy concerns, the Dacra Tech presentation confirmed that data is not kept by the company per state regulations and that the town itself owns the data. 

Tuesday’s presentation was the first step toward bringing an ordinance to the Basalt councilors. First reading of a potential ordinance is not yet officially scheduled but is tentatively set for late February.