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Driving You Crazy: The ramp from 84th Ave. to south I-25 has a sign that doesn’t seem correct

It says that you have to move over when getting onto the highway when that’s not true. Could CDOT change the on-ramp sign?

Sarah from Thornton writes, “What’s driving you crazy? The ramp from 84th to south I-25 has a sign that doesn’t seem correct. It says that you have to move over... not true."

The ramp from 84th Ave. to south I-25 has a sign that doesn’t seem correct

By: Jayson Luber

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THORNTON, Colo. — Sarah from Thornton writes, “What’s driving you crazy? The ramp from 84^th to south I-25 has a sign that doesn’t seem correct. It says that you have to move over when getting onto the highway when that’s not true. That lane keeps going down to Highway 36 so they don’t need to get over. There is a conflicting sign on I-25 right before that ramp that says it is a lane that keeps going. Could CDOT change the on-ramp sign? Would that make traffic flow better?”

I think nowadays, signs are just background noise to most drivers. I would bet a box of Pop Tarts that maybe 50% of drivers even know what these two signs actually mean. That said, the sign from 84^th Ave. to southbound Interstate 25 indicates that two lanes merge into one. The sign on southbound I-25 just before the 84^th Ave. merge indicates that a lane is added to the right. The right lane will continue to flow normally as merging is not required.

I asked Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) traffic engineers about the two seemingly conflicting signs. I was told the ramp sign, from 84^th to southbound I-25 is signed correctly.

“After the signals, vehicles are required to merge into a single lane before entering I-25," CDOT told me. "In this configuration, the right lane of the ramp must merge left so that all traffic combines into one lane, which then continues as a dedicated continuous merge lane onto I-25.”

The ramp from 84th Ave. to south I-25 has a sign that doesn’t seem correct

This area has historically been the first spot during the weekday morning commute to slow down. Part of the reason for the slowdown is that drivers are merging over into through lanes sooner than they need to. That ramp lane is actually a continuous lane that would take a driver all the way down to Highway 36, nearly 1 full mile away. That would allow for ample time to merge over at a higher speed and possibly keep mainline traffic flowing better.

I asked CDOT about that as well. I was told, “To improve driver expectancy and merging behavior, CDOT will look into extending a dotted white lane line from the signal head up to the physical gore area where the sign is with the appropriate lane reduction arrow marking in the right ramp lane. This would provide clear indication that the two-lane ramp narrows to one lane reducing last second merge.”

We will have to wait to see if the new lane markings will change driver behavior and get traffic to flow better, but my same sentiment carries over from the signs to pavement markings. They are just background noise to most drivers.

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 award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.