By: Dan Wille, Assistant Principal Good day everyone. As I’m sure you have noticed, I have been directing traffic at the intersection of W. Nassau and S. Kipling at the end of the school day. The purpose of this effort is to alleviate the congestion and back up of traffic on Nassau from the school and, more importantly, educate drivers on the proper and legal way to accomplish the right turn onto S. Kipling St. After observing traffic at the intersection, I have determined that the primary cause of the problem at the intersection is drivers making illegal right hand turns to get onto S. Kipling St. What many people are doing is sitting at the stop sign and waiting for a break in southbound Kipling traffic so they can then shoot across all traffic lanes in order to get into the far left lane to make a U-turn at Quincy. This is illegal as well as very frustrating for other drivers who are stuck in line waiting to make that right turn correctly to proceed southbound on Kipling. My goal is to correct the situation through education and then enforcement (if necessary). It is my sincere hope that the education part of the equation will correct the problem. If not, I will be conducting enforcement activities and issuing citations to violators. The two traffic violations that I am observing are people making an improper right hand turn and obstruction of traffic flow. Per the Colorado Traffic Code, a right hand turn must be made as close to the right hand curb or edge of the roadway as practicable. There is a merge lane provided for this specific purpose. This lane is intended to allow you to accelerate and then merge safely into traffic going south on Kipling. The other violation is obstructing traffic. If a driver loiters at the stop sign for the purpose of waiting for a break in southbound traffic to make the turn illegally, that falls under obstruction of traffic flow. These violations carry a 3-point penalty assessment each and total fines of up to $160, if cited. Below, I have provided a diagram to illustrate the proper way to negotiate the right turn from Nassau onto Kipling. It also illustrates what constitutes a violation. Additionally, the school asks for families exiting the east parking lot to proceed to Kipling rather than turning right onto Nassau. We believe this will help with congestion on Nassau as well. If you have any questions, you can reach me by calling the school. Deputy/Technician G. Everhart
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Comments are closed.
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