Jonesin' for a roadtrip, take 1
So I'm sitting around my home on the night of August 22, and I decide I need to get out of the city. Badly. I decide that bright and early the next morning, or whenever I finally decide to wake up, that is, I'm going for a drive. I decide to go west, but that's about all I know. And, as a treat to all of you, I decided to bring my camera along. One photo log is now up and ready for your viewing pleasure. Many of these photos are sized for a 1024x768 resolution monitor. Those viewing this site at a lower resolution may have problems. You've been warned. Hope you enjoy tagging along on my Sanity Break 2005 tour!
...crusin' and playin' the Rio Karma...
Coming off of Independence Pass and into Aspen now. Aspen, Colorado is where the wealthy come and play. Heck, even the police force have Land Rovers for their squad cars. You don't want to fill up here, that's for sure. There's some less expensive towns down the valley from here.
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Another shot of a cement barrier used to stop rockslides. Looks like this one was partially effective, too.
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What can I say? I love the name of this campground!
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When the cuts get higher, the timber/cement retaining walls do, too. Considering we're on the outskirts of Aspen now, I would think this would be classier. Oh, well.
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Not sure what the font is on this sign, but I'm betting it's not MUTCD standard. Yeah, that's serifs you see on the letters. Anything to be classy, I guess.
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Actually, we're entering Aspen, not "Pedestrian Corridor." Shouldn't there be an "a" or something else on that sign?
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82 has a convoluted route through Aspen. Lots of shifting of blocks in a rather small town. This is the advance warning sign that 82 is about to turn right. Not that you can tell because of the SUV, that is.
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What to do when you don't have a sign ready for your project? Improvise.
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Recycle Circle? Sheesh. Great name. Don't know if there's actual eagles on the detour or if that is the name of a business or what.
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Aspen has very strict design rules for commercial establishments, as do many of the mountain ski towns. Here's how Aspen made a Shell station look, as well as how Aspen displays street signs on the traffic signal poles.
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Aspen's Yield to Pedestrians sign. They line Main Street for at least six blocks. It's pretty residential through here.
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82 zig-zags once more before leaving Aspen. This is the zag part coming up.
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Coming up on the big roundabout outside the Aspen area. CDOT can't seem to make up its mind when it comes to how to sign roundabouts, as you'll see in the coming pages.
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One thing that is pretty consistent is how CDOT signs where you'll be going with each turnoff out of the roundabout. This is a basic one, so the sign isn't that cluttered.
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I have never seen this type of arrow sign in Colorado before. Overseas, yes. Colorado, no. I like it, though. Very explanatory without being cluttered.
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The Roaring Forks Transit Authority runs a bus service along CO 82. This road gets quite crowded at times, so there's extra incentive to ride the bus. Namely, they don't get stuck in as many traffic jams.
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Approaching the Maroon Creek bridge. This bridge, at the time I traveled through here, was being reconstructed. It's much narrower now so wide loads have to wait their turn.
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Here's where the road narrows. Behind the barrels, those lines are supposed to be there. They are the markings for the trail that follows 82.
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On the Maroon Creek bridge now. CDOT has more information on their Maroon Creek Construction Page.
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Just after the bridge lies this signal. Not for long, I'd guess.
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One lane per direction = backups here. So the RFTA buses get a break.
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Traffic gets so thick on this section if 82 that HOV lanes were installed.
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This is interesting. The HOV lane is the right lane through the Roaring Fork Valley.
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Highway 82 was recently widened to a four lane limited access freeway. The designers leaned heavily on how the Glenwood Canyon section of I-70 was constructed for this design. Didn't stop 'em from making a large rock cut here, though.
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It's odd having the HOV lanes on the right. Passing slower vehicles all occurs on the right. It's all backwards, I tell ya!
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Occassionally traffic flow is interrupted by a light. These are timed well, though. I only had to stop at one, maybe two lights between Aspen and Glenwood Springs.
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This is the first official reassurance shield we've seen on highway 82. I don't count guide signs or turning route signs in that list.
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Those are some tall warning beacons. Guess they don't want anyone to miss them. Seems to work, too: no skid marks on the road.
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The second reassurance shield in less than a mile. Now CDOT starts posting them. 82 actually runs northwest from Aspen to Glenwood, FYI.
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A highway maintenance shed lies just off of the mainline.
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Just after the shed, the highway splits again. This is the last crossover for quite some time.
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The eastbound lanes travel higher and higher through here.
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Even when the EB lanes aren't on a bridge, they're raised high above the WB lanes. Incidentally, the locals don't call them WB or EB lanes. They say downvalley for WB, upvalley for EB. It's a mountain thing.
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The HOV lane is still in existance through here. And it's still messing with my mind getting passed on the right like this.
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The lanes are separated for so long that contractors actually built in a designated U-Turn spot. This heavily doctored picture (curse you cloud and valley wall) shows the patched together advance warning sign.
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Here's that U-Turn spot. The upvalley lanes have one, too. The gore point sign simply reads Aspen <-.
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So what is that truck carrying anyway? That's one reason why I stayed behind him. Still can't figure it out, though.
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Here the Jersey barrier gives way to a driveway.
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This Sign of Fugliness™ is spotted just before the turnoff to Woody Creek. Easy to miss this one.
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That trail we saw on the Maroon Creek bridge has been running alongside us this entire time. Here it crosses over the highway.
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Don't know who this Roadrage person is, but he better call *CSP pretty soon. There's signs up and down this road looking for him.
- Where to next?
- Page 3
- This trip's Index
- Page 5
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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