Traffic delineators removed, intersection closed, construction begins at SW Colorado Springs intersection

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A year has passed since a controversy in the Ivywild neighborhood over white and yellow lane markers called delineators that were installed at two intersections along Cheyenne Boulevard.

And now, there are new developments since KRDO 13's The Road Warrior broke the story in May 2024.

Delineators have been removed from the Cheyenne/Lorraine Street intersection — also closed to all except westbound traffic — and construction is underway.

The Road Warrior learned of the situation while driving through the neighborhood on Tuesday; some neighbors said that the intersection had closed on Monday but had no idea why.

City officials have yet to confirm the reason for the closure and the construction, but it's likely due to the replacement of delineators with concrete bump-outs.

Bump-outs are extended curbs that stick out into streets and are designed to reduce the time needed for pedestrians to cross a street — which can increase safety for disabled or elderly walkers in particular.

A bump-out gives a pedestrian time to cross one side, wait or rest in a center median, and cross the other side.

Workers are setting up the framework for a median at the construction site, and sidewalks at the intersection have been removed; only westbound traffic on Cheyenne is allowed.

That hasn't stopped some eastbound drivers, however, from trying to sneak through — until they're stopped by workers and told to back up.

Last May, city officials made the intersection a four-way stop to reduce speeding and increase safety, although there's mixed neighborhood opinion about how effective it has been.

Neighbors are undecided about the apparent coming of the bump-outs.

"Well, let's see how it finishes up," said Keith Hays, who has lived in Ivywild for 30 years. "The reason for the concrete is to slow the traffic down. I've never really seen a need to do it."

Gregory Young said he supports anything that reduces speeding.

"I'm worried about maybe long-term plow interference with snow removal," he said. "But if they want to keep fixing it from a snowplow hitting it, then who am I to question it?"

A former county commissioner led the initial opposition to the delineators, saying that they were unsightly and unnecessary, and that neighbors had no say in the decision to install them.

At that time, the city removed another group of delineators a few blocks east, at the Woodburn Street intersection; officials had studied the devices there and determined that they didn't work well because the layout of that intersection is different.

Posted signs around the construction zone state that parking is prohibited from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. through the end of June.