CDOT completes $1.6 million upgrade of traffic signals at two US 24 intersections in Woodland Park
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) largely focuses on road maintenance and road projects, but part of the agency's responsibility is what's happening above the road on busy highway intersections.
Safety and efficient traffic flow are the purposes of upgraded signals at two busy intersections in Woodland Park.
CDOT recently finished installing the new signals and related equipment at two intersections along US 24: Aspen Garden Way, at the south end of town; and Trout Creek Road, just west of town.
CDOT started those projects in April at a cost total of $1.6 million.
The previous signals were replaced not because they don't work properly, but because it was simply time for them to be replaced before any issues developed.
Everything is new and improved -- from the lights, to cameras and motion detectors, to the arms holding the lights in place.
Also new are the flashing yellow lights under signs that read "Be prepared to stop when flashing."
The new systems allow better traffic management in a busy corridor that has a lot of heavy traffic, especially from tourists.
"They were part of our signal replacement list," said Matthew Jagow, the project engineer for CDOT. "Typically, our signals -- depending on when they were built -- can have a service life of anywhere from 20 or 30 years, depending, again, on materials and that stuff. We do have an existing list that we try to work off on, on that severe list."
At the US 24/Aspen Garden Way intersection, CDOT also added new curbs and gutters along with ramps for the disabled that meet federal standards.
Some drivers say that the upgrades will reduce crashes at both intersections.
CDOT has only enough funding to replace a handful of intersection signals every year, Jagow said; there's no backlog of replacements and any upgrade is part of the regular maintenance schedule.
"We're doing a replacement in Lamar next year," he explained. "The year after that, we have one planned in Walsenburg and one planned in Pueblo. We have to look at addressing (federal) compliance, drainage and other things that come along. So, the average cost of a signal placement has gone significantly up in the last ten years. I'd say it has doubled."
In recent years, CDOT has upgraded signals on Highway 83 (Powers Boulevard) in Colorado Springs -- at the Constitution Avenue and Palmer Park Boulevard intersections.
In the past year, the agency has also upgraded signals along US 24 (Cimarron Street) in Colorado Springs -- at the 8th Street, 21st Street and 31st Street intersections.
Other recent signal improvements include one installed on US 24 at the entrance to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings; and another on the Union Boulevard exit off the US 24 MLK Bypass in Colorado Springs.
