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Accidents prompt changes at Sawyer Drive intersection

The Colorado Department of Transportation has eliminated the flashing yellow left-turn signal phasing at busy times of the day at the intersection of Sawyer Drive and South Camino del Rio.

The intersection had seen an increase in serious vehicle collisions causing injury, said Karola Hanks, fire marshal for the Durango Fire Protection District.

The intersection is near Durango Mall, Durango Harley-Davidson, a First National Bank of Durango branch and a Durango Fire Protection District station.

Eight injury collisions occurred after the flashing yellow arrows went into use in 2011, up from four during a three-year period before their use.

“By analyzing our response data, staff noticed an increase in injury transports from accidents at the Sawyer intersection,” Hanks said in a CDOT news release Monday. “We then discussed our data with CDOT, and the traffic engineers responded with an analysis of crash data at this intersection, as well as adjacent intersections.”

Most locations along the busy highway corridor saw a decrease in injury collisions. Sawyer Drive, however, was the exception.

“The data indicate, since the (flashing yellow arrows) were installed we have reduced the number of serious accidents overall,” CDOT Region 5 Traffic Engineer Mike McVaugh said. “We’ve significantly reduced the number of injury accidents throughout the higher posted speed corridor, even with increasing traffic volumes – this is very good to see. However, as Sawyer indicates, not all locations saw a decrease in injury accidents.”

Sawyer Drive will operate with only “protected” green left-turn signals during midday hours. The “permissive” flashing yellow lights still will be used at night. Thousands of safe turns are made at permissive yellow lights around Durango every day, CDOT said. Left-turning vehicles must yield to oncoming traffic on the flashing yellow arrows.

The data on injury crashes along the highway corridor also showed that drivers continue to run red lights, and rear-ending is the most common type of injury crash.

“Another primary cause of collisions we’re seeing – and this was also the case prior to the flashing yellow arrows – is that motorists are not waiting at the stop bar prior to initiating their turn when there is a safe gap in traffic,” McVaugh said. “Instead, they creep out into the intersection and risk a quick left turn on a solid yellow, assuming oncoming traffic is stopping. If oncoming traffic does not stop, this can lead to serious injury collisions.”

cslothower@ durangoherald.com

Apr 29, 2015
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