Mike from Littleton writes, “What’s driving you crazy? I’ve had to go around this annoyance now for several weeks and the City of Littleton hasn’t dealt with it. Apparently some large vehicle hit this light pole a few weeks ago and the City of Littleton has parked this truck in this turn lane to prop up the pole while they wait for a replacement or repair! So crazy! In the meantime, for those of who drive west on Church to turn right onto Santa Fe are frustrated with no right turn lane. It’s hard enough turning right onto Santa Fe, much less in the morning during rush hour.”
I know how frustrating it can be when your normal route is blocked and unfortunately in this case, you will need an alternate route for longer than anyone would like. It was February 20 when a driver going north on Santa Fe past Arapahoe Community College approaching Church Ave fell asleep and lost control of their vehicle. The vehicle knocked down the signal pole in the southeast corner of the intersection before careening into the signal pole in the northeast corner. The damage to the second pole included severe scraping and twisting, resulting in a small crack to the weld at the bottom of the pole.
The City of Littleton was able to obtain a temporary pole that could be put in place for the southeast corner, which was installed the same day as the crash. However, neither the city nor CDOT could locate a pole replacement that would work for the northeast corner. Since there was no easy replacement, the pole was inspected for structural stability and put back up, scrapes and all.
It was determined by a structural engineer that the crack at the bottom of the pole is too significant to let the pole stay up without additional support. The city tells me in order to keep the pole stable, the city decided to use that boom truck to attach the pole to the boom. Unfortunately, the city says the only location the truck could be parked in order to provide the support needed was in the westbound Church to northbound Santa Fe right turn lane. The city knows this isn’t the best option and is pursuing a couple of ideas that will let them move the truck.
One solution would be to complete a specialty repair of the crack to stabilize the pole, however, this work requires a very specialized skilled laborer that the city says has been nearly impossible to find and schedule.
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Another other solution would be to put up temporary poles and a span wire that would hold the traffic signals. However, that too is a complicated process. The city must first locate available temporary poles that would be placed in the northeast and northwest corners of the intersection to which a span wire can be attached. Then the damaged pole can be taken down and the support truck can be removed. However, the city cannot simply install temporary poles without identifying a location where there is adequate right-of-way and without confirming there are no underground utilities in the way. The city tells me assuming they are able to locate the temporary poles, identify the available land with right of way access to install the pole and verify there are no utility conflicts they would be digging into, they don’t have the necessary equipment to install the poles and span wire themselves. They would need to hire a contractor to do the install and would need to determine a contractor’s availability to supply the personnel and necessary equipment to complete the job. As you can see Mike, this is a complicated process, and the city isn’t sure how long any of this will take.
The city of Littleton isn’t the only city dealing with a pole that needed extra support. Castle Pines had a similar boom truck holding up one of the signal poles at Castle Pines Parkway and Lagae for several weeks. I was told the boom truck was necessary while the new signal poles’ caisson was being installed. The new caisson’s location was so close to the existing pole, the support was required until the concrete hardened. The new Castle Pines Parkway pole has been shipped, but they confirm significant supply chain delays are real and is frustrating many cities and counties.
Meanwhile, Littleton has met with CDOT, since they own the signal even though the City of Littleton operates and maintains the equipment at this intersection on CDOT’s behalf, to developed a plan of attack for a permanent solution. Assuming the northeast pole does indeed need to be replaced and can’t be repaired, new signal poles will be ordered. I’m told that receiving new signal poles can take anywhere from four months to a year depending on demand. And to complicate the matter even further, due to the age of the damaged signal poles, newer standards require a different design that will potentially require locating the poles in much different location at the intersection. That means the city along with CDOT will have to do some design work before even ordering the new poles so the permanent solution may not be in place for quite some time.
The city tells me they know that the boom truck is an inconvenience and appreciate the public’s understanding and patience. They added that they wish they could offer a specific time frame but providing even an approximate duration to complete this work is very difficult given all of the factors involved.
And finally, to add insult to injury, the driver who caused the damage was not insured so Littleton and CDOT will have to absorb the costs for the repairs.
Denver7 traffic anchor 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 iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Spotify or Podbean.
