Commuters looking to circumvent the queue for Highway 82’s most popular rush-hour traffic workaround were met with barricades on Monday.
Pitkin County officials say the closure of the Cozy Point crossover on Saturday will increase safety ahead of a major traffic realignment. In association with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the county put a stop to motorists’ ability to make an improvised “Michigan Left” turn that drivers used to get around the line that builds up at the Smith Way left turn off of the highway.
It had become a traffic hazard over the last few months, county officials said, as people would cut off drivers in the eastbound acceleration lane from Smith Hill in an attempt to make a U-turn via the Cozy Point crossover. They hypothesized its emergence to media coverage of future plans for a “Michigan Left” in the area and a “follow the leader” phenomenon.
Parker Lathrop, chief deputy of operations with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, said he witnessed it regularly in his commute to work out of Smith Hill onto Highway 82. Lathrop captured dashcam video of someone cutting him off in the acceleration lane in early August, which the county then shared with CDOT.
CDOT issued the county a special-use permit for public works crews to install delineators with reflectors that block the crossover, which Pitkin County Engineer Andrew Knapp said was constructed with the widening of the highway to four lanes decades ago. Now, access to Cozy Point Ranch will be right turn in, right turn out.
There is another crossover just upvalley of the Cozy Point crossover; Knapp said he hopes not to encourage its use. Lathrop said the other crossover is more appropriate for commuters looking for an ad hoc “Michigan Left.”
“The one thing that crossover is lacking is when you head back downvalley, there’s no acceleration lane,” Lathrop said. “But that’s utilized in the morning when there’s not a ton of downvalley traffic.”
He said the third crossover doesn’t pose the same safety risk as the Cozy Point crossover.
“The whole point of a ‘Michigan Left’ is for those acceleration, deceleration lanes to have tons of space in them so everything happens at highway speeds,” he said.
Patti Watson, manager of Cozy Point Ranch LLC, said the ranch has been preparing for the closure for a while now and the entrance to the property is only for employees. A gate at the entrance was added about a year ago, she said.
“It’s a minor inconvenience to have to do the turnaround [farther],” she said. “But it’s worth it for safety.”
Watson did not use the crossover to take horse trailers downvalley, instead she turned right out of Cozy Point Ranch then turned left into the Brush Creek Park and Ride to take a right downvalley.
The ranch’s main entrance is still aligned with Smith Way, which Watson called “dangerous,” recalling clients who’ve been hit crossing the highway at that crossover. She said she welcomes the county’s plan to improve safety at Smith Way.
The Cozy Point closure is meant to stabilize that stretch of the highway while the county prepares for a major traffic project at Smith Way.
The county is working to construct a Reduced Conflict U-Turn, or “Michigan Left,” intersection at Smith Way and Highway 82, the popular cutthrough to McLain Flats Road to access Aspen by skipping the roundabout and the zipper lane slowdown between the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport and Buttermilk Ski Area.
Last month, the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement with CDOT for two safety restoration projects along the highway. Pitkin County Public Works recently won a $2.6 million grant from the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program for safety improvements at Smith Way and Lazy Glen. The grant will be administered by the CDOT
“These are dollars that are designed for a local agency, and we are taking the initiative to reach out for those dollars and construct these improvements, even though it’s not our highway, because it is so impactful to the community,” Knapp said. “We all drive it, we all experience it, and everyone who drives through there every day is subject to the safety hazard of that intersection.”
The new design would have two mirror “Michigan Left” turns, closing the direct Smith Hill crossover. This modification of the intersection would eliminate broadside conflicts and is anticipated to reduce crashes by up to 75%, according to Knapp.
He said the exact location of the turns is still being determined, but the design will eliminate the Smith Way crossover.
“You’re going to be able to safely pull out of traffic, slow down, make the U-turn and speed up before merging across traffic and making your right turn,” he said.
It’s safer than a traffic light installation, he said, because it eliminates the potential right-angle, high-severity collisions.
Knapp said the money is set to be available in the 2028 fiscal year, but could be available as soon as the 2027 fiscal year if the county completes other materials in time, which he is aiming for.
“It’s my goal to get it done as quickly as possible just to maximize the safety benefit,” he said. “The quicker we get it done, the cheaper it’s going to be because of inflation.”
Lathrop said the intersection is known to be dangerous.
“In my personal opinion, I would say that Smith Hill, over the years, has shown itself to be our most dangerous intersection in the county. We’ve had fatalities there. We get the occasional tourist who goes up Smith Hill and then goes left in oncoming traffic,” he said. “If you’ve noticed, every time they replace the guardrail at Smith Hill, it doesn’t last more than three weeks before it gets hit again. The stop signs have been taken out numerous times like that.”
The Lazy Glen improvement involves adding an acceleration lane for those exiting the neighborhood to head eastbound on the highway.
