There have been multiple public hearings in the mid valley this summer about a proposed development… and a much discussed issue is the increase of cars and trucks along Highway 82. Some local residents say they’re fed up, especially at the El Jebel Road intersection. Aspen Public Radio’s Elise Thatcher has this look at plans to improve it.
Eva Wilson is an engineer with Eagle County, and says the El Jebel and Highway 82 crossroads has a real problem. “Traffic!” she exclaims. “We’re just growing, and what happens during peak hours is we will have a queue waiting to get on state Highway 82 that backs up past Gillespie Drive."
That’s the line of cars and trucks coming down from the Missouri Heights neighborhood, and also from a very popular Wendy’s restaurant on the corner. Those vehicles block other drivers from taking a left turn into the restaurant and its neighboring gas station, creating another backup that spills out onto Highway 82.
"I’m usually sitting at that light [at Highway 82 and El Jebel Road] for at least 10 to 15 minutes," agitates Justin Gardner. He’s sitting in his truck near Wendy’s and does maintenance at a nearby business. Gardner usually arrives in the morning rush hour, and is frustrated with the left turn onto El Jebel Road from the highway. “You’re usually backed up halfway to Catherine Store [on 82]. I mean, 8 o’clock in the morning, it’s impossible to turn left!" Once Gardner is finally on El Jebel Road, it’s another battle to turn left into the Wendy’s parking lot.
Engineer Eva Wilson says Eagle County and CDOT have a plan to relieve that gridlock. “We pulled together a team of local stakeholders, local business owners, federal highway [representatives], CDOT, RFTA,” she says. “We formed a team to look at the problem as a whole, we started modeling the traffic through this area, and basically having the access so close to Highway 82 for Wendy’s was a concern." And really the heart of the problem. Engineers decided to build an island up El Jebel Road, from Highway 82 to the next intersection at Shadowrock Drive. A roundabout will be put in at the latter. Drivers will then make a U-turn, around the roundabout, back to Wendy’s.
The project will also add another lane. It’s for people coming out of Wendy’s, or down from Missouri Heights, who are trying to get onto downvalley Highway 82. Studies show the vast majority of Wendy’s customers take a right and head downvalley, instead of sticking around El Jebel. “So we will have a dedicated right turn lane,” explains Wilson, “helping to shorten the stacking distance for access to Highway 82."
Wilson says the island and roundabout will force drivers to only take right hand turns into restaurants, shops, and the highway, making traffic move more smoothly. “The current estimate for the project is $2 million dollars,” she says. “We’re very excited that we were able to acquire a $1 million grant from CDOT." Prominent landowner Crawford Properties LLC, who has property at the intersection, is putting in $100,000. Eagle County is coughing up nearly $1 million.
There have been concerns by locals that that intersection, and one nearby at Whole Foods, are already too busy, and that a new development would make the problem worse. But Wilson says if approved, the proposed Tree Farm project next door would not further overwhelm the El Jebel intersection. That’s based on future traffic projections. The project could mean as many as four hundred residential units and more than a hundred thousand square feet in commercial space. The developer says its high density is designed for mass transit and to reduce driving. A private traffic study shows the proposal could tally up to 8% of the overall commuter traffic on Highway 82 in El Jebel. CDOT is planning for an increase in daily traffic on the highway of 44% and 65% in the next twenty years.
For two area workers, improving the El Jebel intersection makes sense. Jessie and Heather didn’t want to use their last names, but say they don’t mind continuing down El Jebel Road a little ways to a new roundabout. “I think that would be good,” says Jessie.
Because sometimes we don’t even make it through that light, because we’re already backed up all the way. That would make sense [to have the roundabout],” since they’re already practically next to where the roundabout would be. The project at the El Jebel Road intersection has been in the works for about four years, but the funding didn’t come through until this summer. Construction could begin next year, pending environmental review.
