Deadly Wrong-Way Lane Merits Reconsideration, Critics And Victims Say
DENVER (CBS4) - The Colorado Department of Transportation said it will re-examine a deadly stretch of Interstate 25 north of Denver that has caused one fatal accident and others with serious injuries.
The area is a reversible one-way lane that allows drivers to head northbound during parts of the day and south during others.
There are two ways drivers can enter the reversible lane going the wrong way. There are warnings: an overhead sign, a gate in one lane, some rubber cones and a no right-turn sign.
CDOT says there have been four accidents since 2008 on this reversible stretch of I-25. In reviewing footage of the area, CBS4 spotted a passenger bus going the wrong way. It had to be escorted out of the lane before a possible collision.
On Aug. 31, 2013, a head-on crash in the lane killed Jenny "Kush" Monson, a well-known marijuana activist. The accident occurred in the reversible lane.
Rebecca Maez was driving the wrong way and entered the lane at 70th Avenue. She was drunk and pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide.
But not everyone who ventures down the lanes in the wrong direction is intoxicated or traveling at night.
In August, another head-on collision occurred. No one was killed, but the drivers suffered serious injuries.
One of them, Leslie Roberts, is undergoing physical therapy. She was injured when she turned from 70th Avenue onto the reversible lane going the wrong way.
"I got down there to the end of the ramp and realized people were coming 70 mph at me the other way," she said.
Roberts said she tried to turn around but another car was coming.
"He slammed on his brakes, and I slammed on my brakes," she said.
Her sliver Jeep Liberty was struck by a car going 40 mph northbound in the right direction.
A CDOT engineer says he believes the entrance and the lane is constructed correctly.
"We do feel it's adequately constructed, signed and marked with traffic control devices," Charles Meyers, a state traffic engineer for CDOT, said.
Safety expert Skip Guarini, who testifies about accidents at trials, viewed the intersection with CBS4 and said more could be done.
"You could miss that no right-turn arrow, and that's all you got here," Guarini said.
Guarini said he believes a fix would be easy.
"If you knew you had a problem because you have already have had people killed there, then why aren't you fixing it?" he said.
He suggested better signage and barriers. Roberts said she agrees.
"There should be something coming down like a railroad crossing," she said.
CDOT says it will examine the intersection to see if any changes are warranted.
