Nearly six weeks in, Madison police report few Flex Lane violations | News

MADISON (WKOW) — The Beltline Flex Lane has been open for almost six weeks, and the Madison Police Department said its officers are seeing a vast majority of drivers use it correctly.

“We’ve actually seen a very high level of compliance,” Lt. Tony Fiore with MPD’s Traffic Enforcement Safety Team said. “I’m not surprised but certainly encouraged that folks are pretty cognizant of when it’s open, when it’s closed and really not utilizing the lane when it shouldn’t be utilized.”

Fiore said the department’s main enforcement focus is during off-peak hours when the additional lane is closed. He said two officers are out at a time and patrol for eight hours each day.

During the first month the Flex Lane was open, Fiore said MPD officers stopped about five to 10 drivers each week. The most common violation was using the Flex Lane as a passing lane when it was closed to traffic.

However, some drivers said they’re noticing other vehicles frequently speeding in Flex Lane, and Tom Palmtag said he’s started avoiding driving on the Beltline during rush hour because of it.

“I live in Sun Prairie, and I go all the way around to Waunakee now to avoid it because I don’t think it’s safe, and it worries me,” he said.

Palmtag said he’s noticing more problems when the Flex Lane ends and drivers have to merge back into the normal driving lanes.

“You’re at full speed and, all of a sudden, it ends,” he said. “Where do [the drivers using the Flex Lane] go?”

Palmtag said, while he was trying to exit the Beltline onto I-39/90, he had a close call and narrowly avoided a crash.

“A car pulled right in front of me,” he said. “I basically had to slam on my brakes because he had nowhere to go, but neither did I in the outside lane. I’m trying to get on the interstate going to Sun Prairie. So, I had no place to go. We all hit our brakes, and it’s amazing nobody got hurt.”

Palmtag said, going forward, he would like to see even more law enforcement officers monitoring how drivers are using the Flex Lane, and he wants everyone on the road to be a bit more cautious and aware.