Dear Action Line,
Based on COTrip.org, CDOT has apparently removed its road cameras from Purgatory to Silverton that livestream video of road conditions. Instead, we have seven in the first few miles south of the new 550/160 interchange. This seems ridiculous – there is no need for that many cameras of 550 south of town, but it’s super important to have the mountain pass cams for winter driving. Can you shed some light on this?
– Signed, Not Camera Shy
Dear Not Camera Shy,
I went up to the Colorado Department of Transportation offices on north Main Avenue and this is what they told me after a call back (getting in there is sort of like getting into the Elks lodge – you don’t get past the entryway without being buzzed in by someone expecting you).
Contractors had been in charge of installing and maintaining the cameras. In the past, it’s been a real problem getting the contractor to keep those U.S. Highway 550 north cameras operational, with lots of complaints when they were rendered inoperable because of weather.
So CDOT is in the process of taking them over itself, and in the meantime they have been taken down or are offline. It could take a year or two for CDOT to get the new cameras up and running, so you may have to plan differently this winter.
This causes angst for CDOT too, not just for the public, as the plow drivers themselves use these cameras in planning their routes, so they are anxious to get them going again.
Luckily, CDOT has other resources on its website you can use. The “road conditions” filter tells you in text what the conditions are like, which are live updated by the plow drivers as they see conditions change. And you can look at the “plow tracker” to see where road segments have been plowed recently.
As for the numerous cameras below the 550/160 interchange at Grandview, those were included in the project turning the Bridge to Nowhere into the Bridge to Somewhere.
If you commuted to Farmington every day you wouldn’t think there’s no need for so many cameras there! Especially since you know how dizzy you’ll be after circling the roundabout a couple of times before finding the right way out to where you’re going.
But don’t call it a “traffic circle” – it turns out those are the old-style intersection alternatives with stop signs at the entrance and 90-degree exit turns that traffic engineers have deemed less safe and effective.
And what’s a “rotary”? Some sources say that’s the right term for something more like a traffic circle, other sources say they are more like a roundabout, so take your pick.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Today’s Fun Fact: In America we park in driveways and drive on parkways, which are generally designed for recreational automobile travel on scenic highways. Except around here, where we have the San Juan Skyway, connecting Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Telluride and Dolores. Because we are higher here in Colorado.
