Dear Action Line: It is quite common on north Main for a car turning left out of a business to use the middle turn lane as a merge lane or a place to stop and wait for a traffic opening. I have witnessed several near misses. This is a bit different scenario, but this evening I was traveling south on Main, in the left turn lane into the high school (there is a clear turn lane marked with white paint), when a truck bolted left out of Happy Pappy’s to head north on Main – even though both northbound lanes were quite busy. This truck weaved through the southbound traffic and entered my left turn lane facing north. I slammed my brakes and we were nose to nose. This gentleman then rolled down his window and screamed profanities at me for having the audacity to attempt a left turn in a left turn lane. Are turn lanes an acceptable place to hang out and wait for an opening? – Stuck in the Middle
Dear Stuck: Action Line edited this a bit, and combined it with another reader’s question to mostly stick with the theme of the middle turn lane. Reader Mary Mullen said: “I’ve seen drivers accelerate for up to three blocks (in the turn lane) before merging to the right. I believe the correct word to describe that is, ‘Yikes.’ Is that lane truly meant to be multiuse, free-for-all?”
So, fellow drivers, we all know there’s a difference between “rules” and “what rules I personally choose to follow.”
But certainly we can all agree that the Happy Pappy’s example is outrageous, egregious, preposterous and downright dangerous, can we not? That is not a rhetorical question. I assume most people see how asinine that maneuver was, but maybe we just can’t take things like that for granted anymore.
You can probably get away with using the center turn lane as a merge lane, but it’s inadvisable, abominable and technically illegal. What the police will ticket you for – and, if you are in an accident, you will be held liable for – is driving irresponsibly and endangering others.
And if you’re merging via a dedicated left-turn lane, such as that at the high school, you are playing with fire and will one day get badly burned. You’d better be ferrying a woman giving birth or a knife-wound victim bleeding out if you’re pulling that stunt.
For the official word, we contacted the state Division of Motor Vehicles.
“According to the (DMV’s) Colorado Driver Handbook (page 13), the ‘two-way left-turn lane,’ also known as the center turn lane, is for the exclusive use of left-turning vehicles and may be used by drivers making a left turn in either direction,” said Jennifer Giambi, with the DMV’s communications office.
“As the handbook states, the lane cannot be used for passing or travel by a driver except to make a left turn. Additionally, when a street has a shared center turn lane, drivers cannot turn left from any other lane and cannot drive in this lane.”
It’s not a merge lane, it’s not an acceleration lane.
Folks were disgusted, revolted and infuriated when the new medians were constructed along Camino del Rio in the Town Plaza area a couple years back, but there is absolutely no doubt that this stretch is much safer now.
Giambi noted that you can find the Driver Handbook and other driver education resources at dmv.colorado.gov/drivereducation. You’ll have to scroll down a bit to find the icon for the handbook.
Dear Action Line: I’ve been seeing this guy’s name pop up in Durango Herald articles: Mike French. Apparently, he’s the city’s “prosperity officer.” What does that mean? What kind of job title is that? Is the city so prosperous that it needs an officer to oversee all of its prosperity? What happens if the city falls on hard times? – Penny Pincher
Dear Penny Pincher: Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. The city recently issued a news release about the new position. But do you know why?
It’s because of Action Line.
“We were going to ignore it,” said city spokesman Tom Sluis. “Then Action Line hears and we are like, uh-oh, better do something.”
Sluis was joking about the ignoring it part. Probably. You never know. He was once Action Line.
Mike French has a long background in management and marketing, and was most recently executive director of the La Plata Economic Alliance, where he led the Regional Housing Authority and economic development initiatives. He’s been front and center in the recent land acquisition at Rivergate designed to create workforce housing.
In an email to Action Line, French described his job:
“The Prosperity Officer is responsible for providing strategic leadership and overseeing the budget management and administration of the economic development, housing innovation, and tourism divisions. This role involves creating public-private development partnerships, driving business attraction, retention, and growth, and fostering community engagement. The Prosperity Officer is responsible for developing a sustainable tourism economy through an effective destination marketing and management program.”
For more, find the city’s news release here: durangoco.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3960.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Forgot to answer the last part of that question. Perhaps if there’s a big economic downturn we’ll be looking for a Hardship Officer? (And yes, Jackie Chiles was channeled, imitated and emulated in the making of this article.)
