Driving You Crazy: What are the yellow poles at 29th at Depew and other nearby intersections for?

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo — Carla from Edgewater writes, “What’s driving you crazy? What are the yellow poles at 29th at Depew for? Same for a couple other nearby intersections. These can’t be for bicyclists as they can’t get through. The meat market guy said they are for bikes or scooters to be locked up on. The poles make turns a bit tricky and some have been hit. This is concerning to us who live in this neighborhood.”

I can assure you Carla, these poles are not a bike or scooter parking area. The poles are part of a high visibility system to help drivers know that people are crossing the street and to be aware.

The official name for that area with the poles is a bulb-out and they are specifically designed to jut out into the roadway to help slow traffic making it safer for bike riders and pedestrians crossing the street. The City of Wheat Ridge received feedback from people in that neighborhood saying drivers were routinely speeding well over the posted 30 mph speed limit along 29^th so the city is trying this method to get drivers to slow down.

The flexible yellow posts known as bollards simply mark the edges of the bulb-out so they are clearly visible to drivers. The rugged plastic poles were installed after last years repaving project along 29^th Ave and are specifically designed to spring back upright if a driver hits one.

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The city tells me they have many different types of traffic calming measures and that these current bulb-outs along 29^th at Depew St, Chase St and Benton St are temporary. “If traffic data and community feedback show they are effective and additional improvements are warranted in the future, permanent bulb-outs could be constructed with concrete curbing. At this time, however, the city has no plans to make these installations permanent.”

The city tells me reaction to the bulb-outs has overall been positive as they have measured a decrease in traffic speeds. They have received mixed messaged from bicyclists as some report it is tricky to get through the bollards. They city is looking at some options to modify the alignment of the bollards to help cyclists but since they say 29^th Ave is not one of their designated bike corridors, they will try to make adjustments where and when possible.

I asked if a driver hits a pole and they break, is there a way for citizens to report that to the city so they can be replaced? I was told, yes, residents can report damage to their office number at 303-205-7600. They also said please don’t lock your bike or scooter to them as they are just flexible tubular bollards and that is not the intended use.

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.