Lyn from Denver writes, “What’s driving you crazy? Can you explain the correct way to navigate the Stout Street at Speer Blvd intersection? I'm asking because I see a lot of cars in the second lane with their left turn signal on.”
That is a unique interchange in downtown Denver, just west of the convention center. Before we talk about how it is supposed to work, let me lay out how it flows.
The road starts off as Santa Fe with three lanes going north past Colfax Avenue. As drivers cross over southbound Speer, the road name changes to Stout Street. It is right there that the one left lane splits into two left lanes, and those two left lanes are "left turn only" lanes for drivers gong north on Speer Boulevard. What was the center lane of Stout Street becomes the left lane and the right lane allows traffic to continue on as it runs under the convention center into central downtown Denver.
After the left lane splits into two, drivers are required to make the left onto northbound Speer from both of those lanes. If a driver waiting at that light is in the second lane from the left with their left turn signal on as you said, that would be the left turn lane and they are doing it correctly. If a driver was in the third lane from the left, which would be the left of the two through lanes with their signal on trying to make a left onto northbound Speer, they are doing it wrong. They should be going straight northeast on Stout Street toward the convention center underpass. If a driver in the second left turn lane, skips the turn and goes northeast on Stout, they too are doing it wrong and should go left on Speer. That driver should just make the left then a right on Arapahoe then another right on 14th to get back to Stout Street.
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When I went to check out the intersection, I thought the street markings looked pretty clear about what drivers are supposed to do. There is a clear overhead sign facing Stout Street traffic indicating that the two left lanes are turn only lanes onto northbound Speer. There is a sign on the left side of the road, next to the sidewalk, that states the left two lanes must turn left. There are also two yellow diamond signs just after Colfax on both sides of Santa Fe that say thru traffic should merge right.
I think what you are seeing is more than likely drivers who get caught in the lane they don’t want to be in and are making up their own driving rules as they go.
Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Podbean.
