The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Metrics make the case, but council anticipating public feedback
By Mark Reaman
The idea of reconfiguring the Sixth Street and Red Lady Avenue intersection at the south entrance to Crested Butte to include a roundabout is firming up. The strong consensus of the Crested Butte town council is to support a roundabout in conjunction with the Crested Butte Community School expansion project that is slated to begin this summer.
While no final decision has been made, the council clearly directed the staff on Tuesday to work with school district representatives and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to place a roundabout at that critical and often congested intersection. The roundabout garnered more support than a so-called High-T configuration that includes a separate turn lane to Red Lady along with a merging lane on Sixth Street, and while a traffic light was briefly touched upon as an alternative, it had little traction with staff or council.
Crested Butte community development director Troy Russ said traffic studies indicate that the intersection is congested and will only get worse. The projection shows that by 2045 the intersection traffic volumes and issues will “fail” 10 out of 12 months a year given population and tourism growth with the exceptions being April and November. Currently July is the heaviest traffic month at the intersection. He said the primary problem is for people attempting a left turn heading onto Sixth Street from Red Lady Avenue.
Russ said that while the High-T would help alleviate some issues, the metrics of a roundabout are superior. “While the High-T improves the situation, the roundabout does that and also slows the traffic down significantly to 15 miles per hour,” he explained to the council. “It also provides bigger gaps for cars. The roundabout is a better traffic mover than the High-T and it is far safer.”
Councilmember Anna Fenerty wondered if other traffic calming elements could be included to make the High-T safer. Russ said that was not possible at the volumes being seen at the intersection. “A roundabout is a traffic calming device,” he said.
Councilmember Kent Cowherd wondered if a stop sign at the intersection could work. Again, Russ said given the significant volume at the location, it didn’t make sense to stop every car. He did say that while it is rarely mentioned, a traffic signal could work in that location.
“Apart from the recoil everyone up here would have when they hear that term, what else would it do,” asked councilmember Mallika Magner.
Russ said the roundabout is actually safer than a “signalized intersection. Traffic signals do nothing to slow traffic, they control traffic,” he said.
Cowherd expressed concern over the safety of pedestrians and bikes at a roundabout. Russ emphasized that every study showed a roundabout was safer than intersections with traffic lights or a High-T.
“Normally, a High-T is a rural solution where no pedestrians are around,” said Russ. “They work best outside of towns.”
Russ said that particular intersection does not attract a lot of pedestrians. Fenerty said she works nearby and while that is true, there are still people who cross there.
Magner wondered about having high berms of snow in the area in the winter. Russ responded that that snowbanks at such locations cannot exceed 30 inches so the town’s snow maintenance plan will have to address that issue.
“For me, stop signs are not safe and if you have a traffic light and you see green, you cruise through,” said mayor Ian Billick.
Money comes into play
The cost difference of the alternatives was significant. A traffic light was estimated to cost about $1 million, the High-T approximately $1.9 million and the estimate for the roundabout was $2.8 million.
“The financing of how to pay for the intersection renovation is not yet settled,” said Russ. “There are grants available to help but the financing has not been identified.”
Gunnison Watershed School District superintendent Leslie Nichols said from the district’s perspective, safety was the priority. “Given that, a roundabout is likely the best option,” she said. “As for the cost sharing, we are here but how exactly the cost will be shared is still being discussed. For us of course, our priorities center around education and programming.”
“If this is being driven by the school expansion, why isn’t the school paying for it all,” asked Magner.
“If town said that was the case, then we would probably choose the cheapest option,” responded Nichols. “But that’s not the type of neighbor we want to be. We would rather be good partners to help find the best solution for the town. The studies conducted by both the town and the school district show that the intersection would fail with or without the school.”
Billick pointed out that given town geography there aren’t many left hand turn options along the Sixth Street corridor given the location of the parks and Center for the Arts. “The school is in a unique situation geographically,” he noted.
“Keep in mind that the Four-Way Stop intersection is also struggling and the roundabout here would extend the life of the Four-Way,” added Russ explaining that currently, people living on the east side of town are avoiding the hard left turn at Red Lady and going to the Four-Way, adding traffic to the intersection. “The roundabout at Red Lady will make the left easier giving people an alternative to the Four-Way, lowering traffic volumes. So, the town benefits with a good solution here at Red Lady. There are a lot of dominoes of benefits with the roundabout.”
Billick laid out the decision-making process and emphasized that while no decision would be made at the January 2 meeting, the staff should be given a clear direction to pursue with the school district. After a more definitive plan is worked out with the school district, the concept will again come before the council at which time he expected to hear copious comments from the community.
“I am starting to be more convinced with the roundabout at the entrance to town,” said Cowherd. “I still have some concerns with pedestrian and bike safety. And I am also concerned with the character of town. A roundabout feels like a modern solution at the entrance to a historical town. A roundabout doesn’t retain the unique character of Crested Butte. But it extends the life of the Four-Way and changing that would be a drastic change to town.”
“My counter to the character argument is that while a roundabout is modern, I’m not sure lines and lines of cars are historic to the Crested Butte mining town. The roundabout to me, gives us a chance to define the entrance to town,” said councilmember Gabi Prochaska. “We could install some really cool art there. The roundabout also fits our climate action plan since cars would not be stopping and starting as much.”
“I’m not comfortable choosing between two things costing millions of dollars, so it makes me hope for a unique, crazy third option,” said Fenerty. “I don’t know what that is, so I am leaning toward the roundabout. It is safe and it can be designed to define what people are experiencing as they enter town. It is way better than the High-T but I still hope something else could be done.”
“The magic Anna is looking for is having less cars in town,” said councilmember Beth Goldstone. “Fewer cars in general would better. But cars are a reality, so I am in favor of the roundabout, especially since it helps the Four-Way. I have used roundabouts on my bike and they work. I would like the county and Mt. Crested Butte to be part of the financing for the intersection.”
”CBMR could also be asked to help,” said Magner. “I like the roundabout given the safety. Safety is far more important to me than hewing to a tradition that is no longer applicable to what is going on in our world. I’m on the roundabout train.”
Billick suggested the roundabout be considered more than a traffic circle and cited a peanut shaped installation used in some locations. Russ said engineers could play with the geometrics, but space is limited.
“Brush Creek will eventually have a roundabout so people will hit that before they arrive in town,” said Billick. “I like the idea of a different look with the roundabout in town if possible.”
Billick summarized that most of the council was, to varying degrees, in favor of pursuing the roundabout idea with the school district. “I fully expect a lot of public feedback on this,” he said. “I would encourage the public to provide detailed comments in writing to the council. It seems that is more likely to land with an impact when the time comes.”
