Summit Cove residents and county officials alike are pushing for road improvement projects on and around Highway 6 this year, in an effort to enhance access, traffic flows and safety in the area.

As the county puts requests to CDOT for street light changes and pedestrian safety improvements, citizens in Summit Cove are asking residents of a local improvement district to support a new bike lane.

County officials asked the Colorado Department of Transportation to consider a number of projects on Hwy. 6 last month, including reprogramming the traffic light at Swan Mountain Road to allow a longer window for left-hand turns.

If the change were made, the left turn arrow would flash yellow when the lights for the lanes going straight on Hwy/ 6 were green, allowing vehicles turning on to Swan Mountain Road the option of making the left when the road is clear.

“People are sitting at a red light when main traffic has a green light,” asst. county manager Thad Noll said. “(This would) give people the opportunity to turn when it's safe to do so.”

County officials also hope to see a green turn arrow at the light at the intersection of Hwy 6, Keystone Road and West Tennis Club Road.

“In the morning (during the ski season) it's really hard to turn left,” Noll said. “You're wading through a couple lights.”

Safety improvements are also needed at the intersection of Rasor Drive and Hwy. 6, where pedestrians have to cross several lanes of fast-moving traffic to access bus stops on either side of the road, according to Noll.

Safer for pedestrians

“We've asked CDOT to see what kinds of ideas they could come up with to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the highway,” Noll said.

One possible solution would be a “refuge island,” between the eastbound and westbound lanes of the highway, allowing pedestrians to stop halfway and wait for a safe opportunity to finish crossing the street.

CDOT is expected to do pedestrian counts in the area of Rasor Drive beginning Jan. 7, Noll said.

The traffic light projects would come at minimal cost, county officials said. Colorado Department of Transportation officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Some residents of Summit Cove are working for approval on a project of their own: a new bike lane supporters say will improve access to year-round biking and walking in the area.

“There is not a good place for people to walk or bike year round to school and from their homes,” said Summit Cove parent Colleen True, who is one of the primary backers of the bike lane project. “The bike path is awesome, but it's not in our community, it's on the outskirts. … As a runner, biker and a parent, I think it's a great opportunity for us to make a nice safe area for everyone.”

The approximately $1-million “alternative sidewalk” would create a bike and pedestrian lane separated from the road by rumble strips and white lines that would run on and around the Summit Cove loop.

Supporters need 60 percent of the nearly 1,300 homeowners in the Summit Cove local improvement district to back the project by March 31, to have a chance of getting a funding question on the November ballot.

“It's an expensive project, but we are looking for all the different opportunities to not burden just homeowners,” True said. “We think it's an investment for the community. Everybody wants it, it's just a matter of how do we make it happen.”

True said those who support the project will be organizing community meetings in the coming weeks and also looking for alternative funding sources, including grants.

If the cost of the project fell entirely on taxpayers, it would run each Summit Cove homeowner almost $800.