Iowa City, Iowa Speed Traps

This area is right downtown and it is watched day-round, but especially at night because of all the bars and all the drunk driving. Stay 25 and not one mile over!

Going northbound on Dubuque Street towards Mayflower Dorm, cops tend to pray on those not paying attention to speed coming down the hill, as well as looking for the out of state drivers. I got clocked at 38 in a 25 because I was coming down the hill and the first thing he said was, "Look, an out of state driver"

The entire length of I-380 between I-80 and US Hwy 30 at unpredictable intervals. Early spring and early summer usually brings a heavy enforcement period of a couple days of massive state, local and county enforcement using airplane, radar, & laser to stop many speeders at once. Often a long line of police vehicles can be seen parked on Airport exit (Exit 13) on-ramp to swoop down and stop speeders clocked by the State Patrol plane along the road a few miles south of the airport. Another popular spot to set up at is Exit 4 at North Liberty at the southern end of the route. North of Exit 4, there is no exit for 6 miles and south for 4 miles, making escape virtually impossible. Other times during the year, the state patrol plane and a couple vehicles seem to form a roaming speed trap up and down the length of the roadway, perhaps alternating between I-380 and I-80, moving around like a wolf pack looking for targets of opportunity. And, no hope for radar detection with the plane–silent and deadly. The only clue for detection is a small high-winged plane flying in the vicinity of the roadway, hardly a give away. If you see a number of patrol vehicles parked in a row at either Exit 4 or Exit 13, slow down and enjoy the view of many others pulled over.

Police park adjacent to Dodge to catch the morning traffic coming down the hill on one-way N. Dodge heading into town. The 25 mph limit is difficult to maintain coming down the hill into the range of their Ka band radar. Enforcement here is good since there is an elementary school on SW corner of Dodge and Church and many children crossing the street between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m. on weekdays during school year.

On Melrose there is a cop who loves to get you. He is known around Iowa City as the "Melrose Mauler." Stay within 4 miles above posted, otherwise he’ll for sure tag ya.