Traffic safety study considered for site of recent fire hydrant crash in Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A traffic signal or prohibiting left turns could be in the future of an intersection where a crash into a fire hydrant two weeks ago snarled traffic and made a big mess.
Todd Frisbie, the city’s head traffic engineer, said that his department is considering a traffic study at the intersection of North Academy Boulevard and Half Turn Road.
The intersection is on a busy stretch of Academy between Austin Bluffs Parkway and North Carefree Circle; it’s also the only place in that stretch where drivers can turn left ot make U-turns across speeding traffic.
“That area also has bus stops on Academy Boulevard,” Frisbie explained. “Providing a traffic signal there would help some of the pedestrian access to allow the neighborhood to get across the street a little more easily than they can today, or more safely across the street than they can today.”
Most of the traffic at that intersection originates from and heads to the east side, where Half Turn ends and leads to three large apartment complexes, as well as the Park Vista neighborhood.
The west side of the intersection is commercial, with a variety of businesses.
The city could prohibit left turns at the intersection by extending the center median there.
Frisbie said that a study likely won’t begin until the completion of an ongoing drainage project in the Park Vista area, late next year or in early 2027.
Many drivers use the intersection to detour around the drainage project.