{"id":2454908,"date":"2020-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=321436"},"modified":"2020-02-24T12:33:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T19:33:08","slug":"temporary-stoplight-at-aspen-airport-on-highway-82-could-be-there-for-a-while","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/temporary-stoplight-at-aspen-airport-on-highway-82-could-be-there-for-a-while\/","title":{"rendered":"Temporary stoplight at Aspen airport on Highway 82 could be there for a while"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7510259917921\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-321436-911\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-1024x894.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times | The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.<\/strong><br \/>Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-1024x894.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-1-768x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times | The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.<\/strong><br \/>Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-1-768x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-2-768x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times | The stoplight pole that was damaged Feb. 5 by a city of Aspen snow truck remains on the side of Highway 82 just past the intersection for the Aspen airport. A highway crew looked at the pole late last week to determine if it could be re-used, but they won't know until next week, officials said.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>The stoplight pole that was damaged Feb. 5 by a city of Aspen snow truck remains on the side of Highway 82 just past the intersection for the Aspen airport. A highway crew looked at the pole late last week to determine if it could be re-used, but they won&#8217;t know until next week, officials said.<\/strong><br \/>Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/stoplight-atd-022420-2-768x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The stoplight pole that was damaged Feb. 5 by a city of Aspen snow truck remains on the side of Highway 82 just past the intersection for the Aspen airport. A highway crew looked at the pole late last week to determine if it could be re-used, but they won't know until next week, officials said.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/temporary-stoplight-at-aspen-airport-on-highway-82-could-be-there-for-a-while\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/temporary-stoplight-at-aspen-airport-on-highway-82-could-be-there-for-a-while\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">An early-morning mishap involving a city of Aspen dump truck earlier this month may have long-term safety effects on the busy Highway 82 intersection at Aspen\u2019s airport, sources said Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The problems surround the stoplight controlling traffic heading up valley that has been in pieces for two weeks since the accident, while a temporary light and difficult-to-see left-hand turn signal for the Aspen Business Center have been installed for the time being.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201c(The Colorado Department of Transportation) has concerns about safety at this intersection, so fixing the signal is one of CDOT\u2019s top priorities,\u201d CDOT spokesperson Elise Thatcher said in an email Friday. \u201cThe temporary signal there is now harder for motorists to see compared to the full pole and signal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The intersection situation started about 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 5 after a municipal dump truck driver dropped a load of snow at the snow dump near Pitkin County\u2019s Public Works building and turned left on to Highway 82 heading back into Aspen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOn his return trip, he came out of the snow dump and thought his bed was down and it wasn\u2019t and he went through the light and caught the light,\u201d said Willy McFarlin, city of Aspen assistant streets superintendent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Pitkin County Sheriff\u2019s Office sent out an alert notifying drivers the road was closed for about four hours while a CDOT crew took down and removed the stoplight arm and installed the temporary signal, said Alex Burchetta, chief deputy of operations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The orange temporary light on the airport side of the highway is smaller and not nearly as tall as the original stoplight pole, though Burchetta said he felt it was adequately visible to drivers. The somewhat confusing new angle comes for those who want to turn left from Highway 82 into the Aspen Business Center and look in the usual place for the turn signal arrow, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s not there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Drivers must look about 25 degrees to the left, where a left-hand turn signal has been installed on the ABC side of the road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Still, Burchetta said he doesn\u2019t think safety has been compromised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s a little different than it used to be,\u201d Burchetta said. \u201cYou have to pay a little more attention at that intersection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One accident occurred at the intersection in January before the incident with the dump truck, according to statistics from the Sheriff\u2019s Office. Two accidents have occurred there since the temporary signals were installed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The damaged stoplight arm is lying in the snow by the side of the highway. Thatcher said a crew looked at both the pole and the arm Thursday to see if they can be used again. Results of the inspection are due next week, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">If the pole and arm are structurally sound and can be used again, the light will likely be repaired and up and running again, possibly as early as April, Thatcher said. That months-long delay would occur because the force of the impact spun the concrete pole footing in the ground, so CDOT will have to repour the concrete in another spot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The replacement of the concrete foot also could cause delays depending on the location of other utilities in the area and whether the original pole and arm would then be adequate to use from the new location. In addition, CDOT will have to reroute the conduit to the signal because the impact likely stretched or severed the wiring, Thatcher said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That scenario would cost an estimated $30,000, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">If the pole and arm are not usable, the Aspen area could be looking at a wait of a year or more because of delays from the metal fabricator. For example, a recent stoplight replacement in Delta took two years to get up and running, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Under those circumstances, the new light would cost \u201cupwards of $50,000,\u201d Thatcher said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">CDOT will cover the costs upfront, then likely try to recoup the costs later, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tracy Trulove, city of Aspen spokesperson, said Friday that the state agency will likely file a claim with the city\u2019s insurance company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/temporary-stoplight-at-aspen-airport-on-highway-82-could-be-there-for-a-while\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months after the main pole was damaged Feb. 5.Jason Auslander \/ The Aspen Times The temporary stoplight on Highway 82 at the Aspen airport intersection will be in place for at least a few months [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 14:08:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454942,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454908\/revisions\/2454942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}