HomeMy WebLinkAbout20060243.tiff •
CORRESPONDENCE RESPONSE
DEPARTMENT OF / Z 1121---1-,,t7-7
* * * PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN THREE DAYS* * *
IF RESPONSE WILL BE DELAYED,
PLEASE NOTIFY "CTB GROUP" BY E-MAIL
OF EXPECTED DATE FOR RESPONSE.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Narrative:
DEC 1 5
Inn n MOINTY PIIRUC WORKS DEPT
BOARD ACTION: (Initial by Approval) MG RM BJ DL GV
/ U 7
Ac•ee with Recommedation ✓ —_-
Worksession
METHOD OF RESPONSE:
- Board Action
____ Work Session
yLetter (Attached)
Telephone Call
No Response (explain)
Depa ment Head Signature
M:\CAROL\OPMAN\RDCOM P2
(1161/1/`;ems,!$- /401-&-A-0 941- 02006-0243
(2 ,
C/-/t. -i' G-
OFFICE OF BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
PHONE (970)356-4000, Ext. 4200
FAX: (970)352-0242
WEBSITE: www.co.weld.co.us
910 10th Street, P.O. Box 758
Greeley, Colorado 80632
•
COLORADO
January 3, 2006
Mr. Keith Bolin,
President
Grand View Estates Homeowners Association
105 Grand View Drive
Mead, Colorado 80542
Re: Traffic Signal at the intersection of WCR 13 and State Highway 66
Dear Mr. Bolin:
The Board of County Commissioners has asked our Public Works Department to discuss options for
installation of the referenced signal with CDOT and the Town of Mead.
WCR 13 is on the County's Strategic Road Plan. Weld County has worked with CDOT and other towns to
partner on installations of traffic signals at other county road/state highway intersections.
A meeting is being scheduled within the next two weeks to discuss this and other issues the County has
on CDOT-related matters.
Please call Frank Hempen, Jr., Director of Public Works/County Engineer, at 970-356-4000 (Extension
3750) if you have not received an update by January 31st.
Sincerely,
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
r::•77„.
flip
M. J. Geile, Chair
PC: Frank B. Hempen, Jr., Director of Public Works/County Engineer
WCR 13, Town of Mead, and CDOT files
M:\FRANK\2006\wcr12-sh66signals-grandviewBOCCLETTER.doc
GRANDVIEW HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
105 Grandview Drive
Mead, Colorado 80542
December 1, 2005
Weld County Commissioners
P.O.Box 758
Greeley, Co. 80632
Re: County Road 13 and State Highway 66 intersection
Dear Weld County Commissioners,
We, the Board of Directors of the Grandview Homeowners Association, are writing to you to
make you aware of our neighborhood's concerns regarding the safety of the CR 13 and Hwy 66
intersection.
We have already contacted the Town of Mead. Unfortunately they were unable to help. (See
attachments). Now we are asking for your help to get a stop light installed at this dangerous
intersection. If this can not be accomplished within a couple of months we feel that the speed
limit should be reduced to 55MPH until a stop light can be installed.
Please help us to make this intersection safe for our families and for all that travel through it.
Thank you for your time and concern. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Grandview Homeowners Board
Keith Bolin, President 'C'--
Don Brewer, Vice President
Cathy Campbell, Treasurer ;) > `y-
Virginia Deines, Secretary ' y1 ti{. M:_)2- 4(.2
[ •
� I /
Robert Olsen, Director I '`'ti 4 ,C)C-v i--,
Enclosure
/WIC ead Town 2of6 Mead
P.O. Box 626
441 Third Street
Mead "A• Future"
Mead,Colorado 80542-0626
(970)535-4477
October 21, 2005
Mr. Keith Bolin
President
Grand View Estates Homeowners Association
105 Grand View Drive
Mead, CO 80542
Dear Mr. Bolin:
This letter is in reply to the letter of September 15, 2005 from the HOA Board to the Town
(which was only received a few days ago).
As you may realize, the intersection of SH 66 and WCR 13 is under the jurisdiction of the
Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) because it is a state highway, regardless of the
fact that it is annexed into Mead. Consequently, any work that is done within that right-of-way
must be with the consent of or performed by CDOT.
This intersection is currently slated as third on a list of signalization projects in this particular
CDOT district. CDOT acknowledges that warrants have been met for a traffic light. The Town
Board met with Ms. Karla Harding,the district director, in 2004 and articulated its concerns
about and desires for various safety projects in the SH 66 corridor,of which this was one of the
most important to them. She stated that CDOT has only enough funding for one signalization
project per year per district, and that would mean that at current funding levels, this project
would not be slated for construction until 2008.
I also recently re-verified this situation with Ms. Harding. There is no money to install even a
temporary traffic signal at WCR 13 and SH 66, because all signalization projects come out of the
same budget. The temporary traffic signal that was installed two years ago at WCR 7 and SH 66-
was done with leftover funds that remained from previous signalization projects at the time.
There are no leftovers now. CDOT has many hierarchies of transportation projects and cannot
divert funds from one type of improvement to another, so that is not an option, either. Over the
last few years, the state has cut its general funding to CDOT substantially, and the department
thus also loses federal transportation funds because it cannot match them. Furthermore, should
Referenda C and D pass on November 1, the monies for transportation therein are allocated to a
specific project list, primarily highway widening items, and therefore will not provide general
income to CDOT for projects such as signalization. The new transportation authorization bill
passed this year by Congress, known as SAFETY-LU, should provide new income to CDOT, but
the appropriations will not be trickling down at a rate that any move-up of improvement projects
can be promised.
• Mr. Bolin
October 20, 2005
Page 2
There is yet another complication. CDOT has programmed this signal along with intersection
improvements. I am not sure what all those improvements are slated to be, but they undoubtedly
include turning lanes. I think that we can all agree that having turning lanes added would also
add to the safety of the situation. However, the installation of the signal equipment would
obviously relate to where new pavement would be, and CDOT would not install a signal now
only to have to move the posts shortly thereafter to accommodate wider lanes. I doubt that
CDOT will "unbundle"the signalization from the intersection improvements, even if the two
aspects of the project are paid for out of different funds.
The general cost of a new traffic light is around$150,000 to $250,000, depending on the number
of features involved. It is possible that CDOT might authorize the project if the Town agreed to
pay for it, but the Town Board has never discussed this as an option. Furthermore, the Town
Board is under severe pressure to spend its available --but limited -- capital improvement
monies on street paving, and would have to gauge the trade-offs involved with agreeing to fund
such a signal by itself versus waiting for CDOT to pay for it.
The issue of speed limits is also subject to a warrant study. Generally speaking, speed limits are
reduced if there is a visibility or congestion factor that leads to accidents. Otherwise, the
"prevailing speed"concept for the highway based on its current characteristics generally holds
that current speed limits are appropriate. In other words, it would have to be proven that
accidents at that intersection are caused by speed, which probably cannot be done. The issue is
probably that they are occurring due to the increased number of turning movements there,which
may not relate to speed. In spite of the adjacency of homes there, SH 66 is still fundamentally a
rural highway at WCR 13, and its sight distances are good (it is relatively flat for all the
approaches, which was not the case for the WCR 7 and SH 66 intersection), for which a 65 MPH
speed limit is valid. In any event, CDOT would have to conduct a warrant study to see if a speed
limit reduction to 55 MPH is appropriate. In other words, neither your HOA nor the Town can
get the speed limit lowered merely because we claim that there is a safety issue.
I am sorry that this letter does not sound very optimistic in the short-term. You are welcome to
discuss the issue with the Town Board at one of their meetings, and/or to contact CDOT directly.
More communication with them on this matter certainly would not hurt.
Sincerely, yy��
D, Fi4.4:ket(.cJ
Michael D. Friesen
Town Manager
Hello