Second phase of traffic safety project continues on Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Traffic was reduced from three lanes to one lane in each direction overnight Tuesday as crews continued working on the last of two traffic safety projects on Garden of the Gods Road (GOGR).
Similar closures are scheduled overnight Wednesday, between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
In the current phase, crews are building and installing new traffic signals on the road, two blocks east of Interstate 25, at the intersections of Northpark Drive and Mark Dabling Boulevard.
The overnight work follows the daytime work that has already begun.
Todd Frisbie, the city’s head traffic engineer, said that the existing signals that hang on wires will be replaced by lights on a mast arm, such as the arms currently in place at the nearby intersection of GOGR, Austin Bluffs Parkway, and Nevada Avenue.
“They’ll allow us to operate the signals a little differently and give us some flexibility on how we operate left turns,” he explained. “We could do time-of-day, protected-only left turns. That’s a safety measure. Also, some pedestrian enhancements are going on at those two intersections.”
One such enhancement is what Frisbie calls a “re-service” function.
“You know how you can get to an intersection, and you press the crossing button, but you’re too late?” he said. “With the re-service, if there’s time still in the cycle, you can come up, push the button, and you’ll get another walk signal to help you cross.”
Last week, crews completed the project’s first phase — building three left-turn medians on GOGR, west of I-25, several blocks between the freeway and Chestnut Street.
Two of the three turn medians direct traffic to the south side of GOGR, where many popular restaurants and other businesses are located.
The goal is to reduce crashes caused by dangerous left turns across the six lanes of traffic in both directions.
Under the new traffic alignment, drivers can no longer turn left onto the road when leaving business parking lots.
That project also required temporary lane shifts and closures.
Signs are posted to prohibit U-turns, but violations are common as westbound GOGR drivers turn around to reach In-N-Out, The Juicy Seafood, and other busy restaurants in the area.
The city acquired a Colorado Department of Transportation grant of nearly $2 million to fund the improvements, which should be finished by the end of the year.