According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, El Paso County had 70 fatal traffic accidents during 2017, resulting in 77 deaths. EPC recorded the highest number of fatalities in Colorado. The county with the next highest amount was Weld County, with 61 fatal accidents resulting in 66 deaths.With so many fatalities, concerns arise about the safety of the streets in the Falcon area, especially as new development continues to emerge, bringing new vehicles. To address those concerns over the next several months, The New Falcon Herald will focus on one ìproblemî intersection at a time to highlight safety issues and inform the residents as to what the county is doing to resolve the issues.The NFH sent out an email to subscribers and also posted on Facebook, asking residents to name intersections they consider dangerous or problematic in the Falcon area.Almost 50 people responded to the NFH.Looking at one or two intersections at a time, the NFH is starting this series with the intersection of Meridian Road and Londonderry Drive, mentioned in four responses to the survey.One resident stated that Londonderry Drive and Meridian Road is dangerous because there is no turn light to allow vehicles traveling either east or west on Londonderry to make a left turn onto Meridian Road. Vehicles are not following the rules of the road, which are outlined in the Colorado Driver Handbook.According to the handbook, drivers turning left must yield to all oncoming traffic. ìThe law states who must yield the right-of-way; it does not give anyone the right-of-way, even if your traffic signal is green,î the handbook states. ìYou must do everything you can to prevent striking a pedestrian or another vehicle, regardless of the circumstances.îTrooper Josh Lewis with the Colorado State Patrol said, according to CSPís statistics team, the frequency of crashes at the Londonderry and Meridian intersection has increased every year since 2013. In 2017, crashes were up 51.7 percent from 2016 and up 266.7 percent from 2013, he said. Out of the 32 total crashes at that intersection between 2013 and 2017, four resulted in injuries and one resulted in a fatality, he said.ìInattention to driving and failure to yield right-of-way were the leading causes of those crashes, resulting in six crashes each,î Lewis said. ìImproper left turns and lane violations resulted in five crashes each.îThe citizen respondents also mentioned that vehicles frequently travel up to 65 miles per hour down Londonderry toward Towner Road from Meridian, although the posted speed limit is 35 miles per hour. Falcon School District 49 is constructing a new elementary school, Bennett Ranch, on Towner, just north of Falcon Middle School. BRES is scheduled to open in August, and there will be a marked increase in children, which is another cause for concern about driving habits in the area.Matt Steiner, EPC public information officer, said he talked with the countyís engineering department, and they are in communication with the entities involved in building BRES; the county is trying to determine what improvements need to be made to nearby roadways and intersections as part of the project. Steiner said, “Those improvements are still being discussed. No details yet.”Regarding the intersection as a whole, Steiner said there arenít enough known complaints about Meridian and Londonderry. However, the NFH received four complaints on this intersection alone and more than 30 complaints on Meridian Road intersections throughout Falcon.Editorís note: Next month, the NFH will tackle another intersection or two. Matt Steiner said representatives from the county departments will be available for an interview.
