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Plan to look at accidents, limit gridlock
A management plan in the works is intended to devise a standard method for handling incidents that cause gridlock on area highways.
The plan, put together by area traffic managers, includes coordinating fire and rescue, police, state patrol, sheriff's office and government responses to traffic accidents and problems. By By: By Kathleen D. Stinson A management plan in the works is intended to devise a standard method for handling incidents that cause gridlock on area highways.
The plan, put together by area traffic managers, includes coordinating fire and rescue, police, state patrol, sheriff's office and government responses to traffic accidents and problems.
Incidents defined by the plan include vehicle accidents, spilled loads, disabled cars and floods occurring on highways, among others.
"The entities probably would be there anyway, but the plan would enable everyone to be on the same page so they're not tripping over each other," said Thomas Schilling, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The incident management plan is expected to enhance response efficiency by improving communication and shortening the time it takes to clear the lanes.
CDOT's plan will cover Interstate 25 from Lincoln Avenue to the El Paso County line.
The Southeast Corridor plan covers I-25 from Broadway to Lincoln and Interstate 225 to Parker Road.
A resident's committee, part and parcel of an environmental impact statement effort, recommended the Lincoln plan be instigated.
The Southeast Corridor plan arose from CDOT's desire to minimize impact of corridor construction on the public, said Amy Cook, Southeast Corridor public information officer.
"An incident plan is vital to the success of construction of the corridor and to minimize the impact to the public," Cook said.
National statistics show that 60 percent of all delay and congestion on highways is the result of incidents, said Pam Hutton, traffic engineer for CDOT, region one.
For every one minute an incident is on the highway, traffic is congested for four minutes after the lane is cleared, Hutton said.
A car crash that takes 30 minutes to clear off the road creates a two-hour traffic jam on the highway, she said.
Douglas County statistics show that an average of 600 crashes per year occur on I-25. National statistics show that reported incidents reflect 10 percent of all actual incidents.
Cook estimates that 5,400 to 6,000 incidents occur on I-25 each year in Douglas County. Of those, statistics show that 80 percent are minor, she said.
A meeting with the stakeholders for the Southeast Corridor project is planned for Tuesday at the Public Works Department in Castle Rock.
The group, represented by police, the sheriff's office, fire and rescue personnel, state patrol, county and city government and state officials, will discuss what the program's goals should be and form a coordination or core team, Hutton said.
The Southeast Corridor implementation plan will be designed by the corridor contractor as part of the construction package, Cook said.
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