FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KOAA) — The City of Fountain is developing a comprehensive safety action plan to address potentially dangerous road conditions.
"Being proactive is extremely important when you have a community our size. So we're really trying to stay proactive and stay on top of this," said Fountain deputy city manager, Todd Evans, "our engineering department saw this as an opportunity to be able to enhance what we've got."
The plan comes at a crucial time after a deadly crash earlier this month.
Michael Weller, a local cyclist, has been hit by cars twice in the past year while following traffic laws in Fountain.
"I had the light, I had the crosswalk, and both times I was hit," Weller said.
The urgency for improved safety measures became more apparent in early October when a woman was struck by a motorcyclist on Highway 85. She was walking on a crosswalk against the indicator.
Weller said both pedestrians and cyclists face uncertainty on Fountain's roads, whether it be because of a lack of sidewalks, busy intersections or blind spots.
He now tries to avoid taking his bike on city roads.
"The thing is people are in such a hurry nowadays that they don't want to look every way. They're more worried about what's in their car and not the people around them," Weller said.
The city is addressing these concerns through a safety action plan that will be funded by a $188,000 federal grant, plus additional city funds, bringing the total project cost to roughly $230,000.
"Long term goal is to make our roads safer, not only for vehicles because that's what folks think, but pedestrian traffic, for bike traffic, for anyone that might use them," said Todd Evans.
Evans said many of the city's roads lack basic safety infrastructure.
"When you have older roads, many of them don't have sidewalks. Many of them have not been improved since the time they were built, which some of them were built hundreds of years ago," Evans said.
The study requires community input to identify problem areas.
Residents have flagged the intersection of Jimmy Camp Road and East Ohio Avenue as particularly dangerous, with one person noting it needs sidewalks and wider streets for pedestrian and cyclist safety.
Another spot people are concerned about is the intersection at Fountain Mesa Road and East Ohio Avenue.
One person on the city interactive map posting, "This intersection gets backed up especially when a train is going through."
The engineering department is taking a lead on this program, but they are calling on the community to continue sharing their street safety concerns.
"They've been doing surveys, they've been working with our elected officials, and they've been asking the public what areas of concern do they have at specific intersections that might be high risk intersections," says Evans, "We've also worked with our police department and gathered traffic accident data to identify those locations. So it's part of the federal criteria and this is kind of the first step."
But until those road improvements are completed, Weller emphasized that drivers must remain vigilant.
"People need to aware of people on the street and other people around them," Weller said.
Once complete the safety action plan is complete, the city will be eligible to apply for additional grants to continue infrastructure improvements throughout the area.
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