DENVER — The board that oversees Colorado's toll lane infrastructure heard from state engineers this month about potential changes to entrances and exits to toll lanes to make them less confusing for drivers.
The engineers told the board they are working with transportation officials to build an entrance to the C-470 westbound toll lane between Interstate 25 and South Quebec Street – an area where data analyzed by Steve On Your Side shows 52,042 toll weaving tickets were issued in the first nine months of enforcement.
Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO) board members mentioned the confusion after they discussed a Steve On Your Side story showing the state had issued more than $40 million in tickets between October and June.
The ticket data helped Steve On Your Side create a map of the most ticketed areas along toll lanes. Three of the top five locations are along C-470 westbound between I-25 and University Boulevard.
Engineers also discussed allowing vehicles to enter the eastbound C-470 toll lane near Lucent Boulevard, which is only a toll lane exit right now. Steve On Your Side data found that 10,097 drivers were fined in that area of the highway between October and June.
Brian Malone is fighting two of his three toll weaving tickets in Douglas County Court. Two of those tickets happened in another spot engineers are considering fixing: eastbound C-470 near Lucent Boulevard.
Drivers have complained to Steve On Your Side and the state about that area. The area is marked as a toll lane exit, but a dotted line that runs along the normal lanes of traffic have confused some drivers into thinking the area is an entrance.
“I'm confused and a little frustrated to get these very expensive citations in the mail when I thought that I had been obeying the laws and the on and off ramps of these Express Lanes,” Malone said.
Fine data analyzed by Steve On Your Side shows that part of the highways was the tenth most-ticketed between October and June, with more than 10,000 drivers getting a toll weaving fine.
“There needs to be some leeway and a grace period. And maybe some more adequate signing, maybe color coding,” Malone told 9NEWS.
At a July 10 board meeting for CTIO, board members discussed some of the confusion.
"I’ve heard from a number of people that there's a confusion about where you can enter and when you can exit," CTIO Board Chair Karen Stuart said. "We all know you can’t cross the double lines, but I have been in a car pool with someone who crossed the line with the dash line next to it, that’s a no-no but it's not clear that its a no-no."
Some drivers argue tickets because they didn't cross a double line
Signage along the interstate and messaging from the agency about the new toll lane weaving violations have specifically mentioned not crossing double white lines, but CTIO has issued fines to drivers who cross a single white line.
"It's a little confusing we are saying don’t cross the double line, but it's really don’t cross any line, right - unless its a dashed line," Stuart asked CTIO Spokesman Tim Hoover during the meeting.
"Well generally any solid [line], but it does allow for instances where you can cross a solid line," Hoover responded. "But, basically don't do it."
"Some of these things are more nuanced and don't make a snappy slogan."
Hoover told the board that the communications department would invest more in messaging to clear up the confusion.
Disputing is difficult
Malone said he tried to appeal his case to CTIO because of the confusion, but said the issue was immediately written off. He paid a $30 fee to have the case heard by a hearing officer. He said that hearing felt like a rubber stamp for the ticket.
“Penalizing people with expensive after-the-fact citations, and then giving them no kind of recourse to be able to plead their case, with any kind of two-way conversation, I don't believe is the correct solution,” he said.
Malone decided to challenge two of his tickets in Douglas County Court. His case is still pending.
Have you had trouble with a CTIO citation? Contact Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger and the Steve On Your Side team.