The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), it seems, has convinced our “local officials” that County Road BB, in Pleasant View, needs to be closed where it stops at Highway 491 because there have been “bad accidents and fatalities there.”
The agency held a meeting in Pleasant View in early summer about this situation and told us they had approximately $600,000 to “fix” this situation. I presented the following information and suggested they widen 491 on this stretch like the rest of the highway.
Road BB is not the problem. The sad fatality that occurred in 2012 was south of Road BB on 491. It was reported that another accident occurred there in 2014 that caused a fatality. That accident occurred north of Pleasant View.
As I reported to CDOT and our Commissioner earlier this summer, the problems are:
The highway narrows from three lanes to two right there; The 1/2 mile stretch that is two lanes is a major animal crossing site; There is a very large “Hovenweep” directional sign on Highway 491 blocking the view of traffic trying to enter onto 491 from Road 16 right there; and.People do not slow down to 55 mph like they should.Add to that, just since that bad accident near there, the highway markings have been changed from a passing zone to “no passing.” So, to solve these problems, they are going to close BB and put a barrier down the middle of Highway 16 so that vehicles can only turn right off of that road onto 491. That will further create a problem as 16 has major traffic including visitors with RVs, farmers and ranchers and local residents. Most of the traffic coming down 16 is going toward Cortez, so I am sure all that will do is create more U-turns on 491 and cause hazards where there were none before.
And how about this...all the rerouted traffic coming from the west will then be driving down Road CC, right through our elementary school zone. Please let your thoughts be known to our County Commissioners.
Merle Root
Pleasant View