CDOT has approved safer pedestrian crossings in Avon — just not on Highway 6

Avon will introduce flashing beacons at eight existing crosswalks throughout the town core next year, part of the town’s ongoing traffic calming and pedestrian safety efforts.

The matter was raised by Avon Town Council member Chico Thuon during the mayor and council comments section of the council’s March 26 meeting.

Avon Town Council members and staff have been repeatedly briefed on the challenges of receiving approval from the Colorado Department of Transportation to put in protected pedestrian crossings along U.S. Highway 6 in areas where the speed limit is above 35 miles per hour. The town has made improving pedestrian safety along Highway 6 a priority for years, and escalated the urgency of creating change recently, following the death of a pedestrian in a hit-and-run incident on March 5.

However, in Avon’s town core, the speed limit is 25 miles per hour, and the pedestrian crossings already exist, so the process of receiving approval is simpler.

Thuon asked whether putting in flashing beacons where the town has the ability to might show the Colorado Department of Transportation and other local municipalities that Avon was serious about making improvements to pedestrian safety in and around the town, in addition to making the town a safer place for pedestrians.

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“Would you, Chief (Daly, Avon chief of police), feel as though it would make our community perceived as a safer community to walk in if you had a button to push to signal to traffic that you would like to cross with your family?” Thuon asked.

“The reason I’m asking this is because over this last spring break, I actually saw a father on Avon Road get out in the road before his family crossed to stop the traffic with his hands, because there’s not a blinking light,” Thuon said.

Town staff is “actively working on Avon Road,” said Tamra Underwood, Avon mayor pro tem. Underwood read an email she received from Eva Wilson, Avon’s public works director, in early March, detailing the progress of the project to put in flashing beacons along the center area of town.

Avon was working with the Colorado Department of Transportation to add eight pedestrian flashing beacons, Wilson explained in the email. The flashing beacons will be located at roundabouts and existing pedestrian crossings throughout the town core, including along Avon Road, on either side of the roundabout at the intersection of West Beaver Creek Boulevard and U.S. Highway 6, and at the on ramp for Interstate 70 eastbound and westbound, as well as the off ramp for Interstate 70 eastbound.

While the initial plan was to put in six flashing beacon crossings, an additional two were added to the plan at the suggestion of Avon Town Manager Eric Heil, based on the increase in development along U.S. Highway 6.

Citing the flashing beacons in Edwards as an example, Thuon also asked whether it might be relatively affordable to make the same introductions in Avon. The project in Edwards, Wilson said, cost $200,000.

Each set of flashing beacons, placed on either side of a crosswalk, costs around $30,000 to install, Wilson said. The flashing beacons will be hard-wired rather than solar powered, which makes them “more reliable, rain or shine,” Wilson wrote in an email to the Vail Daily.

During the meeting, Wilson said she first came in front of council to discuss the flashing beacons in October during the budget review process, and that the project was initiated even earlier. “It started about a year ago when we did a comprehensive safety evaluation of Avon Road,” she said.

Evaluators completed traffic and pedestrian counts, outreach, and analysis of movements throughout town. At the time, evaluators came up with the pavement markings that were implemented last year. “In 2023, we were able to adjust all the pavement markings along Avon Road from roundabout one to five, and I think that they’re pretty successful,” Wilson said.

At the moment, pedestrians wishing to cross Avon Road have, in several places, the opportunity to carry orange flags to make cars more alert of their presence, but the flashing beacons should increase pedestrian safety.

The flashing beacons are currently in the grant agreement phase with the Colorado Department of Transportation. The total cost of the eight beacons is estimated to be $450,000, $390,000 of which is likely to be covered by state highway improvement grants from the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Once the grant agreement is executed, the project will move to the design phase, with October targeted for bidding for construction.

“We’re always looking to try to get things done fast, and then there’s just the reality of construction season,” Heil said.

On the current timeline, construction would likely begin in May 2025.