Speed tables on the table

City council to hear Midland Avenue presentation tonight

Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Post Independent Photos An example of traffic-calming concepts being developed for Midland Avenue is an “entry island” that would be built at each end of the stretch of Midland where the city is trying to slow down traffic. Provided by the city of Glenwood Springs

By Pete Fowler
January 17, 2008

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Alternating curb extensions that create curves in straight sections of road also work to slow traffic Provided by the city of Glenwood Springs Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Post Independent Photos

GLENWOOD SPRINGS - The future of Midland Avenue is about to be unveiled.

An engineering design team will present plans to slow traffic on Midland Avenue to City Council tonight.

Assistant city engineer King Lloyd said changes to the plan have been made in response to public comments. A landscaped median strip was dropped and two more "speed tables" were added in the 1800 south block of Midland Avenue. Proposed crosswalks at Midland Avenue's intersections with 13th Street and 10th Street would also be raised to function like speed tables. Another display sign that flashes motorists' speeds was also added between those intersections.

Speed tables are essentially an incline in the road leading to a flat tabletop, then a decline back down to the road, like those on Cemetery Lane in Aspen.

"I would view this plan as a lot more aggressive than what was originally displayed in the open house," Lloyd said. "Some of the comments that we received reflected that maybe the approach at the intersection at 13th Street and 10th Street wasn't aggressive enough in terms of calming traffic and making motorists aware that there were pedestrians crossing those intersections."

Depending on whom you ask, the speed limit on Midland should either be raised to 40 mph or more, or kept at 25 mph. Many of the public comments received about the proposed measures were positive and a few suggested the city should spend the money elsewhere.

"Some of these ideas may be useful in the future, but I think the money needs to be spent on efficiently moving traffic around Glenwood," Terry Keane, a 15-year resident of the city who lives in the northwest part of town and not on Midland Avenue, said in an interview. "I just don't think the timing is right on this. I don't think they should spend $2 million to slow down traffic when we really need to help workers get through town."

Lloyd said the plan is designed not to reduce traffic volume, and that driving 10 mph or so faster than the speed limit for the 1.2 miles of road in question would save someone only a matter of seconds. The road was never designed for faster speeds such as 40 mph or above due to visibility concerns, he added.

"It's an illusion to think that you're getting that 1.2 miles traveled at a much greater speed," he said.

The plans include traffic-calming devices every 500 feet or so along the stretch of Midland Avenue from 27th Street to Eighth Street. The devices are meant to get cars to obey the 25-mph speed limit. The city previously decided to pay Loris and Associates about $250,000 for the design work to slow traffic.

The features planned to slow traffic are median strips, speed tables, speed display signs with radar feedback and warnings, alternating curb extensions and a traffic circle. Loris said if a car is forced to steer at least half a car width around an object, the device will be much more effective. The cost estimate for the project is now close to $1.7 million. Three phases of construction could begin in the spring and would take years to complete if the City Council wants to move forward, Lloyd said.

Images of the plan and features to be used are available at www.ci.glenwood-springs.co.us.

Contact Pete Fowler: 384-9121pfowler@postindependent.com



Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO