Edmonton police are cracking down on a number of motorists whose speeds appear to be increasing as the snow and ice melts off of city streets.

Police described speeds being recorded on city streets and in residential areas as ‘alarming’.

In one incident, police clocked a man driving a BMW at about 216 kilometres an hour on the Anthony Henday Drive – in the downtown core, another driver was caught driving at 120 kilometres an hour on Jasper Avenue, which is a 50 kilometre an hour zone.

In another incident, a driver was caught on Riverbend Road at 44 Avenue in late February – travelling at 106 kilometres per hour in a playground zone.

It’s an incident those living and working in the area said are common.

“Kids could be on their way back to school,” Local nanny Mary Cameron said. “There’s a daycare, [and] they take the kids out.

“That’s frightening.”

“People who choose to ignore posted speed limits risk receiving hefty fines, demerits, or the suspension of their driver’s license,” Acting Staff Sgt. Gary Lamont with the EPS Traffic Section said in a press release. “What people fail to realize is that their reckless behaviour could one day end up taking a life, possibly their own.”

Lamont said police are using a number of tools, including Air-1 when they can, to track speeding drivers – as police expect the problem to get worse as the weather continues to warm up.

“We are going to put everything we can out there in terms of equipment, covert equipment, all equipment, all sites out there have a potential to be an enforcement site,” Gerry Shimko with the office of Traffic Safety said.

Police said their increased enforcement will focus mostly on perpetual speeders.

Drivers caught speeding not only face large fines, potential loss of demerits and license suspensions – but if they’re caught driving at more than 50 km/h over the speed limit, the driver would face a mandatory court appearance.

With files from Serena Mah