CDOT Restriping on US 50 through Salida Now Complete
SALIDA, CO – Work is completed on the Colorado Department of Transportation’s project to restripe US 50 through town. The project, which cost $175,000 (design through construction) began on September 9 and was completed October 3.
The work involved removal of existing striping (between MP 220 just west of Walmart to MP 222.5 just east of the Colorado Highway 291 junction), then restriping of the highway to narrow travel lanes and add 5-foot-wide bike lanes and 1.5-foot buffers (pavement markings separating vehicle and bike lanes) on both sides of the highway.
The average daily traffic on this stretch of roadway ranges from 7,900 to 13,000. The restriping will provide traffic calming through town, which will improve safety for all road users: motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
This project was developed through meetings with the City of Salida, City Council and the public (including surveys on project preferences) and follows transportation initiatives laid out in Salida’s Comprehensive Plan to address safe bike/pedestrian connections along US 50. Other recent upgrades (through separate City and City/CDOT projects) to this urban corridor have included:
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Phase III Sidewalks – With federal Transportation Alternatives Program funds administered by CDOT and matched by the City of Salida, sidewalks have been completed from New Street to Palmer Street.
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“Your Speed” radar sign – The City of Salida installed a westbound sign entering Salida on US 50 (as part of the above Sidewalks partnership project).
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Wayfinding signs – The City installed wayfinding signs along US 50 to help direct people to downtown destinations.
Now that the new striping features are installed, here is an explanation of each’s purpose:
BUFFERED BIKE LANE – Bike lanes in Salida are 5-feet wide with a 1.5-foot painted buffer for added protection; the buffer calls motorists’ attention to the bike lane.
BUFFERED BIKE LANE – A closer look at the buffered bike lane.
DASHED GREEN BIKE LANE MARKINGS – Approaching an intersection and a right-turn lane, these colored striping features are used in many cities nationwide (per the national Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices) to draw attention at intersections and turn lanes where vehicles are crossing the path of through-traveling cyclists; motorists changing or crossing an adjacent lane must yield to through vehicles already in that lane (this includes bicycles in a bike lane or motorists in a lane normally used by motorized traffic). This applies with or without the green pavement markings, but the green markings heighten the awareness that a bike lane is being crossed by motorists.
Two-Way Left Turn Lane (TWLTL) – These continuous left-turn lanes marked in the center of the highway provide motorists with a refuge for slowing, stopping and waiting to make a left turn when there is a safe break in traffic. These existed prior to CDOT’s restriping project, but were narrowed for traffic calming purposes.
“I do think the restriping is slowing traffic—this has been a great improvement and the cyclists are starting to use this important corridor,” said Kristi Jefferson, city planner.
CDOT PROJECT INFORMATION: To sign up for “CDOT Alerts” on projects in your chosen area, visit CDOT’s website atwww.codot.gov and choose the envelope icon at the bottom of the page. Or, to see CDOT’s lane closure reports for projects statewide, visitwww.codot.gov/travel/
