From Vicco’s Charcoalburger Drive-In to Valley View Hospital, Glenwood Springs’ businesses and residents continue to get on board with the grassroots campaign, Take A Minute.
According to Colorado Department of Transportation data, nearly three times the city’s population — 28,000 vehicles — travel between the Grand Avenue Bridge and 23rd Street daily.
And since early May the Take A Minute campaign has asked those drivers going up and down Grand Avenue — via yard signs, speed trailers and even digital billboards — to “Slow Down in Town.”
But has the message had any noticeable effect?
“Right at this point, I can’t say that we’ve noticed anything subjectively that leads us to believe it’s had a considerable response,” Glenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson said of the effort put forth by the neighborhood coalition Imagine Glenwood.
“We write tickets and write tickets and write tickets as much as we can, and we’re not running out of customers.”
In addition to wanting drivers to obey the 25 mph speed limit along Grand Avenue, Wilson was equally — if not more — concerned about the uptick in aggressive and distracted driving.
“Personally, I just think that there is a real disregard by people for regulation as far as speed limit signs, red lights and stop signs,” he said. “People are much more willing to completely disregard those things than they were a long time ago.”
Vicco’s Charcoalburger Drive-In, which has been in West Glenwood since 1953, has also been a driving force in the Take A Minute campaign. An avid car collector, owner Bart Victor, who puts on the Hot Summer Nights Cruise Series between May and September, makes sure to prominently display a Take A Minute decal while cruising in his vintage car.
“Every other Friday when we do a cruise night we put the [Take A Minute decals] in the cars,” Victor explained of the event that sees 500 horsepower hotrods doing the speed limit, or even below, along the city’s main thoroughfare.
“We want to keep everybody safe … slow down and enjoy it.”
The campaign’s name stems from Imagine Glenwood’s researched conclusion that the time saved by driving 10 miles per hour over the 25 mph speed limit through the city’s core evidently amounts to 1 minute.
One of Glenwood’s largest employers — Valley View Hospital — has also thrown its support behind the Take-A-Minute campaign.
“So much of slowing down and driving the speed limit is about safety, and certainly as a health-care organization, safety is one of our leading values here,” Valley View Hospital Chief Community Relations Officer Stacey Gavrell explained of the hospital’s support.
While measuring the campaign’s effectiveness has proven challenging, one of its originators, Diane Reynolds, pledged to continue spreading the grassroots effort’s message.
Additionally, the city recently awarded Take A Minute a grant in the amount of $2,422 to further its efforts.
“If we can facilitate an orderly, respectful drive for all of our people, whether they are walking or in a car, then it’s a win-win for Glenwood,” Reynolds said.
“We will not stop in our efforts. We hope to continue applying for grants. We hope that people will decide this is a worthy cause. … I can guarantee you that we will continue to get the message out there.”
mabennett@postindependent.com