Crews to begin installing traffic lights at I-25 on-ramps next week (Denver: contractor, live)

[Vision67]

https://gazette.com/news/crews-to-be...005f877de.html

"Colorado Springs drivers merging onto northbound Interstate 25 at South Academy Boulevard or at Bijou Street soon will get a green light to help them onto the freeway.

Monday, crews will start installing ramp meters at both on-ramps, the Colorado Department of Transportation said Wednesday. Those meters allow one car at a time to merge onto the interstate.

By next summer, 10 more ramp meters will be on I-25 entrances from North Nevada Avenue south through downtown. The $2.5 million project aims to prevent bottlenecks using technology that’s reduced congestion in the Denver area by steadying the rate at which cars merge onto highways."

"The traffic lights will be equipped with sensors so they are activated only when vehicle speeds on I-25 fall to 45 mph or below. The lights will be red for a few seconds, said CDOT spokeswoman Michelle Peulen.

When I-25 traffic is at its usual speeds, the lights won’t be in use.

The meters also will be installed over the next year on the southbound on-ramp at Rockrimmon Boulevard and northbound and southbound on-ramps at Garden of the Gods Road and Fillmore, Fontanero and Uintah streets.

Officials aren’t sure exactly how long the installation will take, but each meter will start operating as soon as it’s in place, Peulen said.

The devices will be installed two at a time, first on the northbound ramps on the east side of the freeway, and then on the southbound ramps on the west side of the interstate.

Pueblo-based Contractor Main Electric will bore holes in the ground, bury conduit, and pour a concrete base at each site. Then, a pole with a signal light and control box will be erected, Peulen said.

The work will take place Mondays through Thursdays. Drivers should expect on-ramp shoulder closures during the daytime and some overnight lane closures from about 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to a CDOT news release.

Bad weather or late shipments could delay the project’s anticipated end date of early summer 2020, according to CDOT.

This effort marks the first time the devices will be used in Colorado south of Douglas County, Peulen said.

Since CDOT installed its first ramp meters on I-25 in Denver in 1984, the devices have been added to more than 100 sites across Colorado, including entrances to I-70, C-470, I-225 and other thoroughfares.

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“They’re very effective in Denver,” Peulen said.

After ramp meters were installed on a stretch of southbound I-25 in Denver, average vehicle speeds increased by 31 percent, or 8.6 mph, according to CDOT’s website. A section of C-470 saw speeds rise by an average of 10%, or 7 mph, after the devices were added to on-ramps, the website states.

In the Denver area, the lights usually remain red for 2 to 12 seconds, depending on traffic, CDOT traffic operations engineer Ben Kiene has said.

“As transportation funding is more scarce, it’s often not practical to add physical capacity to a freeway,” Kiene has said. “So the intent of the ramp metering is to try to squeeze more capacity out of what you already have.”

[TCHP]

This will be an adjustment for a lot of drivers and a popular target among the long time residents who think we are still a sleepy little town to complain about growth.

[mtngigi]

It's about time ... and long-time residents will get over it.

[DrDog]

Does this mean we’re a real city now?

[otowi]

I'm a long time resident and I think it is great - it is about time we do something so simple to address traffic congestion.

[Vision67]

First traffic light at I-25 on-ramp in Colorado Springs to go live next week

https://gazette.com/news/first-traff...6d0a8ace8.html

"Colorado Springs drivers will get a little help beginning next week merging onto the freeway from South Academy Boulevard.

A ramp meter on South Academy to northbound Interstate 25, which will allow one car at a time to merge onto the freeway, will be operational starting Monday. It’s the first of 12 meters to operate along the interstate in Colorado Springs.

The $3.3 million project aims to improve traffic flow and provide more gaps for merging traffic to prevent bottlenecks and avoid collisions, a release from the Colorado Department of Transportation said. The ramps use technology to monitor the queue and control the flow of traffic.

Ramp meters in the Denver area have reduced congestion there by steadying the rate at which cars merge onto highways, the Gazette reported last August. This is the first installation of ramp meters south of Douglas County.

Eleven additional on-ramp meter signals will be phased in over the next two months, CDOT said: West Bijou Street to northbound I-25; West Uintah Street to northbound and southbound I-25; Fontanero Street to northbound and southbound I-25; Fillmore Street to northbound and southbound I-25; Garden of the Gods Road to northbound and southbound I-25; South Rockrimmon Boulevard to southbound I-25; and North Nevada Avenue to northbound I-25.

The meters are equipped with sensors and will only be activated when vehicle speeds on I-25 fall to 45 mph or below. The lights will be red for a few seconds, CDOT spokeswoman Michelle Peulen said.

When I-25 traffic is at its usual speeds, the lights won’t be in use.

For more information, contact the project phone line at 235-6609 or email i25rampmetering@gmail.com. You can also visit the project website at codot.gov/projects/i-25-co-springs-ramp-signals."

[Miss Hepburn]

Fontanero? Who gets off and on there? Lol!

[TCHP]

In a rare demonstration of foresight, perhaps they are planning for when the Centennial extension finally makes the connection to the Fontenero interchange and starts to pull some of the traffic load from Fillmore.