cc:sdurian@co.jefferson.co.us
From:evergreensafetywatch
Date: 7/31/2020
Subject: Comments on Route 73 widening proposal and possible intersection modification at Buffalo Park Road and other evacuation projects.
This email is published at evergreensafetywatch.com for public notification.
Clearly, when considering public safety and evacuation emergencies, a three lane road is desirable and preferred, but from the information provided in the Canyon Courier (“plan to widen and improve a half-mile of Highway 73 between Buffalo Park Road and Plettner Lane”) and your website. I don’t see any evacuation benefits. just a three or five lane bottleneck between the library and the dam.
Yes, this stretch definitely needs sidewalks for pedestrian safety, but why a bike lane that does not connect to any other bike lanes? Furthermore, how do these benefits morph into or even remotely justify a “roundabout” replacing a working intersection that simply needs some upgrades to serve a growing population.
In this regard a roundabout is out of the question for the Buffalo Park/Route 73 intersection because a roundabout simply provides a path for traffic which controls itself and we do not want traffic controlling itself in an emergency. Installation of a roundabout would actually be a downgrade of a working electronically controlled intersection and a reduction of the modest level of public safety that the people of Evergreen now enjoy.
Arguably, when considering public safety, this intersection is the most important intersection in Evergreen. Not only does this intersection experience intensive use 24/7, but it is at the epicenter of traffic routes to five high community use buildings and two emergency fire stations,
- The Library and administrative and police offices
- The Wolf Recreation Center (WRC)
- Evergreen High School
- Wilmot Elementary
- Marshdale Elementary and
- The downtown Evergreen Fire house and the Marshdale fire house.
This makes the intersection a DE-facto Fire lane to the library and administrative offices, and for Marshdale station fire trucks a DE-facto left hand turn fire lane on to Buffalo Park Road. The right hand turn off on to Buffalo Park Road for downtown Evergreen station fire & rescue vehicles is also a DE-facto fire lane and traffic at the intersection must be controlled to insure that the right hand and left hand DE-facto fire lanes are not blocked during an emergency.
Therefore, the entire intersection is a DE-facto fire lane when any high community use building fire alarm is triggered, and the only way to turn these DE-facto fire lanes into REAL fire lanes is through installation of a real-time on-the-fly coordinated traffic signal control system between the fire houses and all the destination high community use buildings, together with a program of community information and education to insure supportive public behavior during an emergency. This intersection MUST be under 24/7 computer control with backup. This is what JEFFCO should be spending time and money on, real projects that would bring significant public safety benefits to JEFFCO citizens in Evergreen Colorado.
To complete the translation of these DE-facto fire lanes into the real-time fire lanes required to all the destination high community use buildings the following additions are required:
- An always green and emergency red traffic light and gate (just like a rail road crossing signal and gate) at the intersection of Olive Road and Buff low Park road to stop East bound oncoming traffic and allow emergency vehicles an unobstructed safe left hand turn on to Olive Road. Also an always green and emergency red traffic light and gate (just like a rail road crossing signal and gate) at the beginning of Olive Road to prevent left hand turns on to Buff low Park road when emergency vehicles are turning on to Olive Road or are proceeding to the High School parking lot or to Wilmot Elementary.
- An always green and emergency red traffic light and gate (just like a rail road crossing signal and gate) at the intersection of the High School Parking Lot and Buff low Park road to stop East bound oncoming traffic and allow emergency vehicles an unobstructed left hand turn in to the parking lot to proceed to the West entrance of the WRC parking lot. Also an always green and emergency red traffic light and gate (just like a rail road crossing signal and gate) at the entrance to the High School parking lot to prevent left hand turns on to Buffalo Park road when emergency vehicles are e entering the parking lot or proceeding to Wilmot Elementary.
- An always green and emergency red traffic light and gate (just like a rail road crossing signal and gate) at the intersection of RT 73 and the North Turkey Creek roundabout to prevent North bound oncoming traffic from entering the roundabout and thereby allow emergency vehicles an unobstructed safe left hand turn on to North Turkey Creek Road. Also a “STOP WHEN FLASHING” stop sign at the intersection of the Marshdale Elementary access road and North Turkey Creek Road to stop West bound traffic on North Turkey Creek Road to allow emergency vehicles an unobstructed left hand turn on to the access road when emergency vehicles are turning and are proceeding to Mashdale Elementary.
- A fire lane painted on the center lane of the WRC parking lot changing it from the existing DE-facto fire lane that the public us not aware of, into a permanent painted highly visible fire lane that the public will be fully aware of, together with educational brochures to promote public understanding and supportive public behavior during emergencies.
- Audible and visual fire alarms installed in the WRC parking lot with connections to both the WRC and the High School.
- Repainting of the fire lane in front of the library now warn down by time and weather.
- Painting of the curb of the access road to the library (a DE-facto fire lane).
- An ongoing public awareness program to explain to the public why the physical distribution and location of our high community use buildings (there are no alternative routes to any of these buildings) requires the complexity of a tailored coordinated traffic signal control emergency response system and a smart public that knows how to behave in support of public safety.
MODIFY YOUR PROJECT
In addition to the preceding suggestions to promote traffic control for fire & rescue events at high community use buildings, here is how you can further modify your project to control traffic for evacuation of all souls in the Buffalo Park Road area.
The attachment to this email is a graphical description of how to safely evacuate all souls in the Buffalo Park Road area. Below is a short narrative describing elements in that graphical description.
Attachment
The modification of your project and upgrade of this intersection is an opportunity to significantly enhance the public safety of the people of Evergreen for a modest cost. Advances in digital , satellite and wireless technology have driven down the cost of coordinated traffic control systems making them available to even small communities.
ALTERNATIVES
So, if the real-time on-the-fly coordinated traffic signal controlled evacuation system for Buffalo Park Road is to big a pill to swallow for a first attempt then you can try a simpler system for North Turkey Creek Road. This is also a great opportunity because the Fire & Rescue Special District has just received a $245,000 dollar grant that will be matched by other agencies for a total of $490,000 for fire mitigation along North Turkey Creek Road (Canyon Courier 7/29/2020). Using this fact a County grants person should be able to discover grant many for a real-time on-the-fly coordinated traffic signal controlled evacuation system for North Turkey Creek Road.
Both grants together would produce a synergy of public safety benefits that neither grant alone could generate. Such out-of-the-box thinking and action would also be an asset in obtaining future grants for other projects.
The North Turkey Creek Road evacuation system with automated gates and signage ,like the Bufflo Park Road system here in described, would convert a bi-directional road into a two lane evacuation route in either an East or West direction, or two directions from a selectible midpoint, depending upon the location and direction of the firestorm.
It is these kinds of evacuation systems that the people of Evergreen, indeed all the people living in the woods along the front range are in need of and should have for their safety. If there is grant money available for fire mitigation then there is grant money available for evacuation and public safety and a good grants person can find it.
If Mumbai India can design and install such systems, then why not Jefferson county for it’s citizens, the people of Evergreen, and all other front range unincorporated area citizens of Jefferson County?
GET THE GRANTS, DO THE WORK, SAVE SOULS!!!
Regards,
evergreensafetywatch