COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — The City of Colorado Springs plans to install temporary traffic calming projects across 34 locations this summer as part of its Safe Streets COS initiative, including projects near Panorama Park on the city’s southeast side.
The program includes several types of safety improvements designed to slow drivers down and improve safety for people walking, biking and driving.
Planned projects include the following:
- speed tables
- neighborhood traffic circles
- speed feedback signs
- flashing school zone signs
- protected bike lanes
Near Panorama Park, the city plans to install speed tables on Farnsworth Drive near Bricker Elementary School and on Fenton Road near the Panorama Park parking lot.
The projects are funded through a $1.05 million federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant awarded to the city in 2024.
Last August, News5 spoke with neighbors near Panorama Park who said speeding and reckless driving had become a growing concern around the busy community park near East Fountain Boulevard and Aeroplaza Drive.
- Watch News5's coverage of those concerns below:
Daizy Emery, who lives by the park, said speeding remains a problem in the area.
“I think it’s really important,” said Emery about the upcoming traffic calming measures. “A lot of people, it’s almost like drag races happen up and down the street all night long.”
Another nearby resident, Renee Gonzalez, said traffic increased significantly after Panorama Park was renovated.
“When the park got remodeled and revamped to what it is today, we were so thankful,” said Gonzalez. “But with that comes a whole more challenges now that everybody wants to come.”
Gonzalez said speeding has become especially concerning as more families and children use the park.
“The park is busy and you’ve got kiddos running across the street,” she said. “I’m deathly afraid that someone is going to get hurt.”
City Traffic Engineer Todd Frisbie said the projects are designed to improve safety before serious crashes happen.
“The point is to improve safety, to slow vehicles and to hopefully prevent crashes before they happen,” said Frisbie.
Frisbie said speed tables have already shown measurable results in slowing drivers down.
“Some of our data has shown that we can achieve a five to 10 mile per hour reduction in speeds,” he said.
According to the city, locations for the projects were selected using crash data, speeding trends and citizen concerns about safety.
Frisbee said southeast Colorado Springs has a higher concentration of roads with elevated crash risks.
“Most of our safety concerns occur on about 5% of the roads,” said Frisbee. “There’s a disproportionate number of those types of roads in southeast Colorado Springs.”
The demonstration projects are expected to remain in place for at least six months while city crews collect before-and-after traffic data. City officials say projects that successfully improve safety could eventually become permanent.
To learn more, visit the City of Colorado Springs website.
___
___
Lighting coming to Arkansas River Trail aims to boost public safety
New infrastructure along the Arkansas River Trail has arrived. The City of Pueblo hopes it'll change the way the public uses the space.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
