After a couple of months of construction, tonight is the night that the northbound left turn from U.S. Highway 550 onto U.S. Highway 160 at the DoubleTree Hotel goes live.
The turn is an unusual one.
The turn involves not one left-turn light, but two. The first is the peculiar one, routing traffic across the southbound lanes before making the left turn.
That creates a staging area of sorts.
The second light permits traffic to turn left across the stopped eastbound Highway 160 traffic. The first light of the two-light combination is the key, however. It puts the left-turning traffic to the side of the flow of all four U.S. 550 lanes, making it possible for all four lanes – especially the southbound and eastbound lanes – to flow for an extended period while left turns are made. The idea is to do a better job of moving traffic than occurs in a conventional intersection. Efficient traffic flow is the Colorado Department of Transportation’s mission.
Shortly after 8 p.m. tonight, the left-turn lanes with their signals, will begin to operate. The highway will be closed briefly to make the transition.
The U.S. Highway 550/160 intersection and the adjacent intersection at College Drive, both in front of the DoubleTree Hotel, have been the center of attention this spring. That is because both are difficult to avoid in this narrow river valley. But drivers have largely been patient as raised dividers have been constructed, traffic-sensing devices have been installed in the pavement, new light poles added and light pole signage have been changed.
The construction has not meant a physically larger 550/160 intersection; rather, an added interior lane which will facilitate an improved left turn.
When the new design was announced last winter, there were plenty of “oh, no, that’s complicated.” Tonight at 8, with some daylight remaining – that is helpful – we will see.
Are Durangoans up to navigating the new design? Yes.
In the last couple of weeks, Durangoans have learned how to accommodate bicycles at the Ninth Street intersection with Camino de Rio, where bicycles have been given a staging location at the head of the lanes and designated right-turn lanes. Drivers are stopping earlier at the light to respect the green-colored spaces and using their mirror before turning right.
The seemingly steep increase in the number of bike riders of all ages, and the official colored pavement that designates bike-only space, could be making this the summer that the bicycle has arrived.
There is some precedent for an unconventional intersection. Not that many years ago, those driving through the Farmington Hill intersection westbound on U.S. Highway 160 learned to be comfortable with merging traffic that had descended the hill. Those downhill drivers learned to pick up the pace and merge at 50 mph. They did it, and do it today.
Tuesday, we will have the first reactions to the new Highway 550/160 left-turn design.
