City of Pueblo Public Works Department to Convert One Block of Acero Avenue into One-Way

PUEBLO-The City of Pueblo Public Works / Transportation Department will convert one block of Acero Avenue into a one-way roadway starting the first week of May. The segment will become one-way in the southbound direction between Northern Avenue and Anasazi Street, which is adjacent to Mountain View Cemetery.

"Safety is one of the highest priorities of traffic management for our citizens in Pueblo," said Traffic Engineer for the City of Pueblo, Melanie Turner. "Converting this one block segment from Northern Avenue to Anasazi Street will make Acero Avenue much safer for drivers, pedestrians and all community members."

This change is in response to an extremely high number of broadside crashes, including injury crashes at this intersection. In the past five years, there were 22 broadside crashes (front-to-side crashes), which represent more than half of all the crashes at this location. This is five times the number of crashes that is considered "normal" for similar types of intersections with similar volumes. Unfortunately, 41% of those crashes resulted in injuries.

Ninety-five percent of the broadsides were the fault of the driver traveling in the northbound direction. This is because of the poor lines of sight due to the stone wall entrances of the Mountain View Cemetery. Since the walls are both beautiful and historically significant, they will remain in place. Making the one-way traffic pattern change eliminates any unnecessary design changes to structures or landmarks in the area.

This change is expected to eliminate 95% of broadsides, including injuries. The expected benefit to cost ratio for this change is 8,800 to 1. This will be a substantial benefit to the community.

If you have any questions, please contact the office of the City Traffic Engineer at 719-553-2722.