Colorado Department of Transportation officials and traffic engineers are proposing a new style of turn lane at the Smith Way intersection with Highway 82, after a number of car crashes there raised red flags.
They’re called “Michigan lefts” because the Mitten State has been using them since the 1960s.
Basically, a driver trying to turn left will instead turn right at the intersection, drive for about 5,000 feet, and then do a U-turn in a median crossover and merge back in with traffic.
County Engineer Andrew Knapp told county commissioners during their October 1 meeting that due to human behavior, this kind of turn wouldn’t eliminate accidents altogether. But, studies show it could reduce T-bone crashes by 35%.
“We’re instead trading that off for a merging, sideswipe-type crash,” he said. “Which is a much less severe and risky type of crash. Much less speed differential, and much less impact energy associated with those accidents.”
Though Knapp said it would take some adjusting for drivers who had never made a Michigan left turn before, it’s not difficult to learn.
“It has a lot of the same benefits that a roundabout has, but it’s gonna take much less infrastructure on the highway to accomplish those goals,” he said.
According to the last five years of crash data, there have been multiple crashes at Smith Way, and one fatality in 2018.
Officials also considered safety improvements at the Lazy Glen intersection. There have only been three crashes at Lazy Glen in the past five years, but one of them resulted in a fatality in 2023. One proposal would add an upvalley acceleration lane for cars leaving Lazy Glen.
According to CDOT, the county could qualify for anywhere from $4-7 million for the infrastructure for Smith Way, and another $2.7 million for Lazy Glen, due to the fatality at each site.
County commissioners gave Public Works the go-ahead to apply for the Highway Safety Improvement Project grant.
This story has been corrected to note the "Michigan left" turn is proposed at Smith Hill, but not at Lazy Glen. The safety updates at Lazy Glen could instead include an upvalley acceleration lane.
