Idaho Falls, Idaho Speed Traps

As you head south from Broadway onto Skyline Drive, the speed limit drops to 25 from 35 on Broadway – there is a sudden steep drop in the road that hides the spot where the police like to sit to catch the unwary driver who fails to step on the brakes for the hill. This is a counter-intuitive action, as the nature of the road changes from business to a rural kind of residential area – where one would expect the speed limit to INCREASE. The signs, however, are placed way above the normal line of vision – you would probably be looking for aircraft to see them.

The speed limit drops to 35 from 45 as you ascend a hill coming into town. The police like to sit in the parking lot of an auto-repair facility facing traffic such that they are hard to see. (once in a while, they actually park so you can see the logo on the door, but not often.) The nature of the surroundings does not change enough to give a clue, and the speed limit changes suddenly – you have to be looking for the signs to see them, and you better step on the brake at the top of the rise if you have "powered" up the hill.

Although 25th is a major street, the speed limit is 25mph. This low speed limit is useful for filling police coffers. They park either along the street or in the parking lot of Community Park, particularly at the east end of the lot. You can’t see them there until it’s too late if you are driving west on 25th.

This is a narrow four lane road with a speed limit of 35. If you are in the inside lane and a larger vehicle is in the outside lane, there is zero chance of seeing the small 20 mph school zone sign along side of the road. I’ve had a clean record for 40 years and this trap destroyed it. It should have overhead signs that can be seen from both lanes. After an appeal was rejected we now go out of our way to boycott this cities merchants.

Don’t speed going to the airport! There’s 2 spots they sit…in the parking lot near Western Transmission on the East side of Skyline and in the parking lot of the builidng at the corner of International/Skyline.