The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“In reality, it’s not that easy”
The Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority wants to lower the speed limit by the intersection of U.S. Highway 135 and Cement Creek Road.
Lowering the speed limit is a short-term solution the Transportation Authority board has identified to solve a pedestrian safety issue at the intersection, caused by riders departing the RTA’s southbound bus and crossing the highway to reach Crested Butte South.
Improving public transportation to Crested Butte South has been one of the RTA’s long-term objectives, but there has never been a definite solution. The possibility of building a Park and Ride lot near the intersection of Cement Creek Road and Hwy. 135 has been considered, as well as adding a bus stop at a central location in Crested Butte South or creating a dedicated bus route between the subdivision and the town of Crested Butte.
Several issues have kept the RTA from pursuing any of these options, including a lack of funding, a lack of available land, time and fuel efficiency constraints on the existing bus route, and a smaller base of bus riders in Crested Butte South.
However, there is apparently enough ridership to cause safety concerns at the intersection.
The Transportation Authority has received several letters from concerned citizens of Crested Butte South, as well as drivers on the free public bus who have witnessed near collisions between pedestrians and moving vehicles.
During the RTA meeting last Friday, director Scott Truex presented the board with a summary of different options available for improving traffic safety.
One of the options even suggested eliminating the Crested Butte South stop entirely from the bus route, but Truex says none of the board members were interested in doing that. Building a parking lot with a bus pull-off, building just a bus pull-off, and putting a bus stop in the middle of Crested Butte South were also considered.
Some cost analysis was done, and Truex estimated that a Park and Ride would cost at least $150,000 to build, plus another $200,000 to $300,000 to acquire the land.
The Crested Butte Land Trust-owned Niccoli parcel has been previously suggested as a potential location for a Park and Ride lot, and CBLT president Jeff Hermanson has indicated that his board is willing to consider a land sale or transfer with the RTA if the community agrees.
Truex says the RTA board discussed the possibility of using part of the Niccoli parcel for a Park and Ride lot, as well as the other solutions, during an executive session on July 10.
He says the board decided to put the option of building a Park and Ride lot on the back burner. Instead, the board wanted to take a look at reducing the speed limit on the highway to 45 or 50 miles per hour and improving pedestrian crossing signage and street lighting.
“I’m going to draft a letter to CDOT [Colorado Department of Transportation] asking to reduce the speed limit at the intersection,” Truex says, “We feel that might solve our problem.”
Crested Butte South POA manager Chris Behan says lowering the speed limit is a good idea. “In reality it’s not that easy to do. We shouldn’t let that hamstring us… People are super-stoked there’s a bus, and there’s this opportunity and it’s free, but they don’t like walking out there when there’s cars speeding down the road or it’s nighttime. It’s not a safe situation,” he says.
RTA chairman Jim Starr says, “The State Patrol has indicated the intersection itself is not that dangerous. But they don’t know about all the near misses that happen. It’s a situation we need to look at very closely.”
Starr, a Gunnison County commissioner, hopes the full board of commissioners will endorse the letter to CDOT, as well as the municipalities of Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte and Gunnison.
While the RTA waits to send the letter and get a response from CDOT, Truex says the board will continue to investigate the possibility of building a Park and Ride lot near the intersection. “Lowering the speed limit, that’s the short term. There’s still a long-term issue of building a parking lot there eventually,” he says.
