I noticed yesterday that the hideous, huge electronic sign at the beginning
of the Canyon from Boulder (the one that tells people that the roads could
be slick when it snows) had a message about Rock Scaling operations and
being prepared for delays. Possibly in response to these events as it
wasn't there before.
Fay Benson
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-puma-news@www.puma-net.org
[mailto:owner-puma-news@www.puma-net.org] On Behalf Of
cchapman@boulder.swri.edu
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 9:26 PM
To: puma-news@www.puma-net.org
Cc: bill.aldorfer@dot.state.co.us; cchapman@swri.edu; ychapman@mric.net
Subject: [puma-news] Dangerous situation near 119 and Magnolia
We have to warn you that, because of negligence by
the Colorado Dept. of Transportation and a private
firm, there is inadequate warnings concerning the
road construction on Canyon near the intersection
with Magnolia. In particular, the company has
failed to adequately warn drivers driving to the
west around the sharp turn before approaching
Magnolia that there might be stopped traffic at
the turn.
On Friday afternoon, around 5 pm, 2 hours after the
long-advertised work was supposed to be stopped,
and during the commuter hour, I rounded the bend and
had to stop suddenly because of stopped cars. The
*first* sign warning of stoppages and delays was
still in *front* of me. I waited in fear as the next
three cars rounded the bend and screeched to a stop,
instead of crashing into me and each other.
Early this morning (Monday) I sent an email to Bill
Aldorfer of the CDOT and also posted the same message
on the CDOT website contact form, demanding that
they place signs east of the bend and preferably
have a flagger, warning of stopped cars. I never
heard back.
This evening, my wife reported that she was nearly
killed at the exact same location around noon today
when she was driving east around the same curve,
and suddenly encountered a tractor-trailer truck
in *her* lane, who had swerved to avoid stopped
cars at the curve; she swerved off the road and
barely missed the truck, and has been shaking
ever since.
I have contacted the Colorado State Patrol and
spoken with Al Rois of CDOT this evening, as well
as leaving a message on the answering machine
of the contractor. I hope that they will get
serious about this situation. But meanwhile, you
should be extremely cautious when driving on the
section of 119 within half-a-mile of the Magnolia
intersection.
Clark (and Y) Chapman
