Safety

Improving Ramp Intersections at Gartrell Road

The signals are on at Gartrell Road! After listening to the community’s concerns, the Authority is partnering with the City of Aurora to improve visibility and facilitate safer left turns from the E-470 ramp intersections at Gartrell Road. As part of our commitment to safety, E-470 funded around 1.2 million dollars for the signals. A huge milestone and major safety improvement that E-470 is proud to be a part of! 

New Pavement Markings

In 2021, the Authority increased the width of roadway striping from 4 inches to 6 inches to help make pavement markings on E-470 easier to see at night and started using adhesive reflective tape instead of paint, which is brighter and lasts longer. On the shoulders, rumble strips were added as a safety feature to alert inattentive drivers.

Improved Signage

The Authority replaces faded road signs every year with ones that have high retro-reflectivity sheeting, which improves their visibility at night. New speed radar signs were also installed on E-470 north of 64^th Avenue, alerting drivers of their speed so they can safely navigate curves on the road.

New Traffic Signals

The Authority partnered with Commerce City to install new traffic signals at E-470 and East 120^th Avenue. The new signals enhance safety for all turning movements at the ramp intersections and help keep people moving in this growing area. The Authority funded $550,000 for the construction of these signals.

Cable Median Barrier

Cable median barrier is found on all 47 miles of E-470. The barrier improves safety on the road and prevents cross-over accidents by absorbing the crash’s kinetic energy and keeping the vehicle in place rather than bouncing it back into traffic or across the median into oncoming traffic. Since the installation of the cable median barrier, there have been zero cross-over fatalities on E-470. We are also adding cable barrier at selected road shoulder locations to improve safety.

Reducing the Cost of Vehicle Incidents in the Region

E-470, through our commitment to safety, offers a more reliable, faster and  safer form of vehicular travel which means a reduction in the overall number of regional fatalities, accidents and injuries. A regional roadway network with and without E-470 suggests that drivers would have traveled an additional 1.4 million miles per day in 2019. This would have resulted in an additional 650 incidents (vehicular damage, injuries, and fatalities) per day in 2020. In terms of economic costs avoided, E-470 saved drivers an estimated  $70.3 million in 2020.

650

incidents avoided per day

=

$70M

cost of avoided incidents

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Wrong Way Driver Prevention

Wrong way signs and traffic direction arrows are installed at all E-470 off ramps as a standard safety feature. The flashing signs, combined with pavement arrows indicating the ramp is an off-ramp, not an on-ramp, are measures designed to capture the attention of those who focus only on the pavement immediately ahead of them and who don’t see the standard wrong-way signs.

In 2021, the Authority added a solar-powered backlit “do not enter” sign to help capture the attention of wrong way drivers at night and during inclement weather. The Authority is piloting this type of signage to see if it can enhance safety even more at on/off ramps on E-470.

Deer Fence

In an effort to save lives and protect wildlife, E-470 utilizes deer fencing to reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions on the road. From Parker Rd. to Smoky Hill Rd. there were approximately 15 deer vs. automobile incidents per year. Since the deer fence was installed, there are approximately five deer vs. automobile incidents per year. Deer fence was installed as part of E-470’s most recent road widening project from Quincy Ave. to I-70, and continued installation will occur with future road widening projects.