A bird’s-eye view of the two main concepts for Highway 50 redesign. Courtesy of KLJ Engineering.
Yesterday, June 22, Poncha Springs residents gathered at Town Hall for a long-awaited, open-house discussion on proposals to restructure the intersection at U.S. 50, County Road 127, and Tailwind St.
The attendees included Poncha Springs citizens, local government representatives, and employees from the engineering firm KLJ Engineering & Planning Services, which is responsible for the proposals. After putting out a request for proposals in May of 2022, the Poncha Springs Board of Trustees awarded the project bid to KLJ in July of the same year.
Currently, residents can participate in an online poll to vote for their preferred changes to U.S. 50. The poll offers two options for the intersection itself and four choices for the reconstruction of the highway corridor leading up to the intersection of focus, starting from the intersection of U.S. 285 and U.S. 50.
The aim of the Highway 50 overhaul, as stated by project manager Jason Reimer, is to improve traffic operations through Poncha Springs, beginning at the west end of town at the intersection of U.S. 285 and going through the Tailwind St. intersection on the east end. The main priorities are pedestrian safety, “adding a sense of entry into Poncha Springs,” and the reduction of vehicle speed through town, said Reimer.
Option one for the intersection of focus is the construction of a traffic circle. The aim of this roundabout is to slow traffic and make the intersection more easily crossed by pedestrians.
Option two leaves the intersection largely unchanged, allowing efforts and funding to be aimed primarily at the corridor reconstruction aspect of the project. The four corridor reorganization proposals differ primarily on their placement of infrastructure for bikers and pedestrians.
Option 2 for corridor reconstruction. Courtesy of ELJ Engineering.
Option 1 for corridor reconstruction. Courtesy of ELJ Engineering.
Option 4 for corridor reconstruction. Courtesy of ELJ Engineering.
Option 3 for corridor reconstruction. Courtesy of ELJ Engineering.
“The ideal is to slow down speeds through town,” said KLJ representative Ryan Sundberg, “so that Highway 50 feels more like a community.” In their radar sampling from September and October of 2022, KLJ found that the average speed through Poncha Springs on U.S. 50 exceeds the posted speed limit of 35 mph.
Some Poncha Springs residents favored the construction of a traffic light, but there are not enough daily instances of cars crossing U.S. 50 at Tailwind St. for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to provide funding for a traffic light. In that KLJ is a primarily grant-funded organization, plans for a traffic light were not included in the poll.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has expressed support for the construction of the roundabout (option one for the intersection of focus), said Reimer. The project is currently in the planning stage, and after the proposal selection, it will enter the preliminary design phase in July. Any scheduling beyond this summer depends on funding and has not been determined yet.
According to Reimer: “Town staff is working to secure as much grant funding as possible to construct this project. Most projects like ours get 80% to 90% grant funding, which would leave the Poncha Springs tax base to pay the remaining balance. Depending on grants we apply for and get, Poncha Springs’ share could be zero. At this point in the project, however, funding numbers are only estimates because we have not started submitting for grants.” Funding information will be provided to the public as the project develops.
Currently, the runaway leading option in terms of votes for corridor redesign is option one, which forgoes a bike lane in favor of shared-use sidewalks separated from the highway by open spaces.
By a margin of almost three votes to one, the traffic circle is beating out the stop sign intersection concept in voting. Some Poncha Springs residents have raised concerns about the land acquisition that would be necessary in order to construct the traffic circle.
Voting will remain open until June 29. If you are a Poncha Springs resident (or use this corridor whether driving, biking or walking), you’re asked to get your preferred choices in to the voting survey. An interactive map of potential changes can be viewed here.
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