Monitoring traffic impacts of lower speed limit on Mesa Ridge Parkway as classes resume at high school Monday
Scott Harrison
FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) — For the second straight week, drivers along part of Mesa Ridge Parkway (State Highway 16) adjusted to a lower speed limit.
However, Monday’s change apparently didn’t result in additional traffic impacts.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) lowered the speed limit to 35 mph during school hours along Mesa Ridge High School as classes resumed.
Two weeks ago, CDOT reduced the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph on three miles of the parkway between Interstate 25 and Powers Boulevard (State Highway 21).
As KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior previously reported, CDOT reduced the speed limit after a study that found a large number of crashes in the area during the past five years, particularly at the Mesa Ridge/Syracuse Street intersection in front of the school.
But CDOT said that it relied on other feedback in making the final decision.
“We’ve had significant conversations with both the city of Fountain and the school district (Widefield District 3),” said Pepper Whittlef, a CDOT program manager. “The original request for a speed limit reduction during school hours did come from the school district. So, that started the ball rolling probably over a year ago. “We’ve had a lot of discussion with the school district on this intersection of Syracuse, and then just to the corridor as a whole.”
CDOT added that Fountain police will be in charge of traffic enforcement in the new school zone.
Classes resumed Monday for freshmen at the high school, with the remaining grades returning on Tuesday.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior noticed that the flashing yellow lights in the school zone were not operating on Monday, which may have caused faster traffic than otherwise.
CDOT later explained that it was waiting on the district to confirm its start and finish times; district officials said that the signals were on Tuesday.
Samantha Briggs, a school district representative, surveyed the back-to-school scene at Mesa Ridge on Monday.
“It looks about the same as what we’ve seen in years past,” she observed. “”There will be some backups. We just ask that people be patient, take their time, and just cooperate so we can keep everybody safe.”
Briggs added that there has been talk within the district of possibly upgrading roads behind the school to reduce traffic congestion even further.
Parents taking their kids to school have mixed feelings about how effective the lower speed limit will be.
“I definitely think it’s going to cause some backup for sure,” said Amanda Pappan. “But I do feel that it’s going to be beneficial for the safety of the students. That’s my main concern.”
Jenn Calnan is more concerned about speeding along Mesa Ridge.
I’m still concerned that people are going to do 55 and still not slow down,” she said. “I think they need to increase police presence out here.”