The Colorado Department of Transportation has received bountiful feedback via this newspaper and its readers – ranging from appreciation to perplexity to outrage for the various new signals and traffic patterns the agency has wrought upon Durango in recent years. Flashing yellow arrows, high-intensity crosswalks, or HAWK, and rectangular rapid flash beacons, or RRFBs, while perhaps not fully initiated into the Durango vernacular, are at least becoming familiar sights. And now that we have the first continuous-flow intersection in the state highway system, it is safe to say that Durango is nothing less than avant garde in the way its drivers interact with roadways.

While it may not be experimental, per se, the new features that adorn Durango’s roadways require drivers to stretch their behind-the-wheel vocabularies a bit – first by deciphering what these varied signals, paint colors and flashing lights mean, and then, of course, by deciding what words to use to react to them. It is a hands-on learning opportunity, and we should feel privileged that CDOT found Durango up to the task.

With relative few hiccups, Durango drivers have adjusted to the ever-complexifying gamut that comprises the Highway 550/160 corridor. In an area once ruled by good, old-fashioned stop lights and two-way traffic, drivers now are treated to 18 flashing yellow arrows that remind drivers that it is OK to turn left as long as the coast is clear. Granted, the flashing yellow makes the reminder more firm – or whimsical, depending on your perspective. In either case, it is attention-getting, and that may be the point. They say repetition is essential to retention, and with the highest concentration of flashing yellow arrows in the state of Colorado, Durango gets points for its diligence in educating the motor pool.

That a commitment to consistency did not seem to inform the innovative crosswalk additions now helping pedestrians through high-traffic areas – while just one HAWK triggers a red light to stop traffic, three RRFBs offer a bright yellow strobe-like light to alert drivers that something is afoot. The combined alphabet soup give those attempting to make their way safely across state highways a much-improved experience. Presumably, each variety has its advantages, and we seem to be relatively adept in discerning their meaning, learning curve notwithstanding.

We are patient, too, with these projects – all griping aside. While the Bridge to Nowhere sits awaiting its destination, we gently mock its expensive provenance and uncertain future, but eagerly anticipate the convenience it will surely one day deliver to the area’s someday drivers. In the meantime, we look forward to the next CDOT project that will keep us at the cutting edge of traffic-management technology. The recent additions show that Durango is up to the challenge.