EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – El Paso County is nearing completion of its data-driven Intersection Safety Improvement Program. A county-wide effort to reduce deaths by adding improvements to five dozen intersections across the county based on crash history.
An El Paso County engineer says that after receiving data from the Colorado Department of Transportation, they inspected every intersection that raised concern.
“The Board of County Commissioners approved $1 million for us to take a look at our signalized intersections and come up with a plan to make as many improvements as we could,” says Joshua Palmer.
The focus is on reducing fatal crashes; more than 50 intersections are listed, divided into two lists.
“Priority one is anything that was shown to have a fatality. So somebody died at…or near that intersection. Priority two was minor injuries or property damage. So it could be property damage to a car, property damage to a fence,” says Palmer.
Refreshed striping, additional signs and reflective tape on poles are a few examples of safety countermeasures that drivers may notice.
The county says it is developing an online public dashboard to continue safety efforts. Workers will be able to log what is or isn’t working from these improvements and continue learning. They also encourage residents to give feedback through Citizen Connect.
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