A series of five test speed cushions on Animas View Drive is the city of Durango’s latest attempt to reduce speeds along a corridor where speeding has remained a long-standing problem.
Some residents dislike the speed cushions. At a City Council meeting last week, two residents said motorists are weaving between them, driving on the roadside to bypass them and accelerating between cushions. They warned it’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed.
City spokesman Tom Sluis said the city has taken steps to alert motorists to the speed cushions.
“Responding to concerns about the speed cushions, multimodal staff have gone out and refreshed the paint on them and have ordered signage to warn people of the speed cushions,” he said. “Additionally, staff requested another light be placed near one of the speed cushions and confirmed the other lights were operational.”
The city has contemplated the speeding problem on Animas View Drive for years. The speed cushions are just its latest attempt to reduce speeding.
He said City Council passed an ordinance in 2021 to reduce the speed limit on Animas View Drive from 35 mph to 25 mph at residents’ request. It installed two speed radar feedback signs north and south of Oxbow and added flags to the new signs. Drivers abided by the posted speed limit for a time, but within a couple of years, speeding became the norm again.
On the evening of Sept. 14, 2023, Katie Siegrist was struck by a 1987 Jeep Wrangler while walking north on Animas View Drive. The Jeep was heading in the same direction and hit her from behind.
She was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction in critical condition and died from her injuries six days later.
A neighborhood meeting between residents and the city followed that November. The city hired Toole Design to explore options for increasing roadway safety, Sluis said. Signage, lighting, crosswalks, automated speed enforcement cameras and speed cushions were all recommended, based on feedback at the neighborhood meeting, results from an online survey and another public meeting in May last year.
The five temporary speed cushions were installed earlier this year. Sluis said their locations were based on sight distance requirements, proximity to transit stops and existing lighting factored into where the speed cushions were installed.
The Institute of Transportation Engineers recommends speed cushions be placed 260 feet to 500 feet apart, he said.
Because Animas View Drive is nearly 1.5 miles long, or 7,920 feet, and 13 speed cushions would need to be installed to cover the length of the roadway based on the ITE’s recommendation, the city chose five key locations to test the speed cushions.
cburney@durangoherald.com
