COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — People who live and drive along the two-mile stretch of Oro Blanco Drive on the city’s northeast side have mixed feelings about the condition of that street.
They’re happy that it received a much-needed repaving that finished last month; it was the last street on this year’s paving list, and mild, dry fall weather allowed crews to continue paving later than usual.
However, it’s the last step in the paving process — re-striping, or applying new lane markings — that many people have complained to KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior about.
Among the concerns: That it took too long between the end of the paving and the re-striping, and without those markings, it was difficult for drivers to know where traffic lanes, bike lanes, and turn lanes are located.
“I’ve seen several near-crashes because of it,” said neighbor Gilbert Ekholm.
Another concern that has neighbors and drivers most upset is the city’s decision to remove the center turn lane on the busiest segment of Oro Blanco between Barnes Road and South Carefree Circle.
The city plans to replace that lane with a pair of narrower yellow lines, and that has residents worried about the safety of making left-hand turns on the street.
“There are 19 turn-offs into the neighborhood between Barnes and North Carefree,” Ekholm explained. We have a lot of turn-offs, so we’d have a lot of traffic being stopped up. There are another 13 between North Carefree and South Carefree. Plus two churches. Drivers have come close to being rear-ended while waiting to turn left. Yet the city left the center turn lane on the north end of Oro Blanco (between Barnes and Austin Bluffs Parkway) even though it has far fewer turn-offs.”
A city spokesman mentioned two reasons for the change: Reducing speeding along the street and meeting the city standard of a consistent 11-foot-wide traffic lane…