Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

This sign has also earned a place of honor on my WTF? page because is it definitely a Sign of Fugliness™. I'm not sure what the sign shop was thinking here. Aerial Picture

Twisted dual-turn arrow. What makes this even more interesting is that there's a right-turn ramp just before this sign, and the ramp is marked pretty well.. Why would someone still need to turn right at the light? There's no frontage road to access or anything. Aerial Picture

What's up, G?

Still at the Powers and Platte interchange, we see these signs. If you take a loop ramp at this interchange, you pass a set of these signs twice: once at the start of the ramp and once at the bottom. My guess is these are here to aid future construction.

On the bridge over Powers now. Here's proof that CDOT has future State Highway designation plans for Powers.

A little further up we're greeted with this Sign Convention™. Hope you can speed read! (This is also featured on my WTF? Page.) Also, check out the streetlight in the background to the left of the sign bridge. Old school!Aerial Picture

The US 24/SH 94 intersection has recently been redesigned to accomodate the widening of US 24 from 2 to 4 lanes. This is much better than the death trap that used to be here. And it's signed much better, too. FYI: Punkin Center is at the intersection of SH 94 and SH 71. There's nothing at that intersection anymore. Aerial Picture

A shot of the newly widened US 24 headed east. This is also a shot of how all our housing developments on the east side of town look. If you don't like the sound of your neighbor's alarm clock, just reach out your window and turn it off. Aerial Picture (The development is so new that it's not showing on Google Maps's images. The streets are there on the Hybrid view, though.)

Now we're going to head back into the city by turning onto Constitution. This signal is brand new, LED-based, and impossible to see because of the sun. I didn't know I could go until opposing traffic stopped. And yes, the workers are crossing against the light. Aerial Picture

Check out the snazzy doghouse signal at this county intersection of Marksheffel Road and Constitution Blvd. Aerial Picture

An up close shot of the doghouse signal.

In order to help stop flooding issues, COS built this retention pond in the middle of Sand Creek. Supposedly it stops the usually dry creekbed from flooding its banks and causing major grief for the city. I've never seen it used yet. Of course, this is the first year since it's been built that we hav en't been in the grips of an extreme drought. Aerial Picture (Google Maps' imagery is older than the basin construction.)

When the city dammed the creek here, they left the bridge on Constitution.

We've now done one big loop. We just went through this intersection while traveling on Powers about 10 minutes ago. I told you this was a random drive. Aerial Picture

COS developers are big fans of culdesacs and little "bubbles" off the main arteries. Many times, these little roads aren't even given their own name, just addresses from their parent road. Here's how it gets signed. Aerial Picture

This is COS's latest way of trying to slow traffic. Yes, that's blue you're seeing. When the traffic isn't doing anything too excessive with speeds, the sign alternates a red and blue blinking pattern. When you're going too fast, the sign flashes SLOW DOWN at you and tells you your speed. Don't know how effective it is, but the blinking lights are a little bit of a distraction. Aerial Picture

Academy (SH 83) at Constitution. That's a pretty descriptive street sign, huh? This used to be a very dangerous intersection. Originally, as seen on the aerial pic link, Academy used to be slpit here. The median was just big enough for two car lengths. There was a signal installation at each intersection with Academy while on Constitution. That, combined with the extended SB left turn lane, led to some interesting traffic tie-ups. Now, Academy is back together for this intersection, with the spilt still in place south of the intersection. The construction of the new sb lanes in the median can also be seen in the aerial pic.Aerial Picture

Still traveling down Constitution, we eventually take a turn northwest and encounter Union Blvd. Union has frontage roads for the homes through here, but you cant access the east frontage road from Constitution. Well, you're not supposed to anyways. Aerial Picture

Okay, a lot to show here. This is the current western end of Constitution. First, note the sign above the minivan. The left lanes don't stop but the right lanes do. Not everyone gets this. Second, the building in the background is a middle school. Templeton Gap Road (the part we traveled on from page 1) is directly on the other side of it. The flat part in the mountain in the background is the remnants of an old quarry. The quarry literally shaved down the mountain. Now, the area is trying to be revegetated. This intersection is also quite a point of contention. Colorado Springs lacks a east-west thoroughfare in the heart of the town. Every plan on the boards says to extend Constitution west to Interstate 25 and intersect it at the Fontanero Street exit, following the old railroad line Constitution parallels. (You can follow this path on the aerial pic, if you're so inclined.) The NIMBY'ers are having a field day with this one, so the chances of it happening are slim. springsgov.com has more information in their East-West Mobility Study page. Aerial Picture

Now back downtown at the intersection of Wasatch and Platte, about to turn left (east) on Platte. This is where old (storm drain) meets new (LED countdown walk signal).Aerial Picture

Headed east on Platte, we're greeted with this underpass. The right lane that exits Platte does nothing more than go up to the top of the overpass, u-turn, and head back down to Platte headed westbound. On the other side, the exit leads you to N. El Paso Street. This underpass takes platte under the Shooks Run trail. Shooks Run isn't here, though. It has veered to the west and is buried under the odd-shaped track to the west. It rejoind the trail a few blocks south. Aerial Picture

A shot of the underbelly of the underpass.

Now headed south on Institute. This street runs next to the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, which is what the yellow sign sez. There's no picture here, but is there a pic that would work? Aerial Picture

At Institute and Pikes Peak Avenue. That's what the old Collector's Plate looked like. It's been phased out now. That VW Bus was in perfect condition! Aerial Picture

Approaching downtown Colorado Springs on a less-than scenic Pikes Peak Avenue. This street was named because it is a direct line of sight to the summit of Pikes Peak. Pretty obvious in this picture. Aerial Picture

Downtown Colorado Springs merchants have formed a art district downtown. Various sculptures are positioned throughout the downtown area, and new ones sprout up quickly. Here's one of some guy. (I couldn't read the plaquard from this angle) Aerial Picture

This is at the intersection of Tejon (pronounced "Tay-hon", with "hon" being like I honed my knife blade) and Vermijo. Tejon goes from a one-way to a two way street at this point. I can't tell you how many times this sign has been hit. Probably why there's two different colored warning signs here. Aerial Picture