LETTER: Ankeny Tournament Visitor Complains of Speed Trap on Irvinedale Drive

Dear Mr. Mikulec:

I am writing to voice my discontent with an incident that took place in Ankeny recently.  My daughter was playing softball in the USSSA State Tournament, hosted by Ankeny, at Prairie Ridge Park.  On the evening of Friday, June 21, at approximately 7:30 p.m., I turned off of Oralabor Road onto Irvinedale Drive.  The speed limit was immediately reduced on Irvinedale due to construction, although quite obviously, there was no construction happening on a Friday night.   I began to slow down to the posted 25mph speed, but at that point, with the momentum I had turning the corner, I was stopped for speeding as I hadn’t slowed down fast enough. 

All this would be a very moot point if it weren’t for the fact that there was a speed trap, unlike any I have ever seen before, set up to take advantage of unsuspecting motorists.  There were no less than 15 police cars pulling people over, and in fact, every person around me had been stopped as well.  The officer who wrote my ticket was from the West Des Moines police department, so it is quite obvious other departments had been “recruited” for this very underhanded operation.   We took note that most of the other cars being ticketed were from out of the immediate area, and, like myself, were unfamiliar with the roads and new construction zone since we were in town visiting for our children’s sports activities.  

It seems blatantly obvious this speed trap was set up to take advantage of out of town visitors, in order to deliberately ticket them for local economic profit.   I would think your community would much rather earn its profits from inviting visitors to support the local economy through hotels, restaurants, shopping and vending at the ball fields.  Instead, this disgusting show of inhospitable aggression will certainly cause me to think twice about ever coming to Ankeny again in the future.  I can’t think of a worse way to welcome people to your community.

Sincerely,

Steve Nielsen

2852 High Bluff Drive

Coralville, IA  52241

Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec said he has received a copy of this letter. He offered no response.