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The City of Northglenn has a unique character for the North Metro Area. It seems it is always out of step with the neighbors. Sometimes ahead and sometimes not. I hope my efforts and some meaningful dialog will keep the community stable, secure and an asset to the area.

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Broomfield Police need training in traffic control

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Contributed by: Gene Wieneke on 12/16/2006

The new Event Center has taxed the department's understand of proper traffic control. In the Center's opening weekend a mess occurred and the criticism was immense. The department's reaction has made the situation unbearable.

During events at the Center the busy off ramps from US 36 are jammed as are both directions of Wadsworth and 120th ave. The situation is complicated by the series of traffic signals along Wadsworth. I am always in the area at 5:45 PM and therefore one of the police department's prisoners. I would love to avoid the situation but I am in an RTD bus and have no choice.

If the police officers were better trained and had educated supervisors the movement of traffic would greatly increase. We all know the traffic signals work day in and day out when the police are not present so what do the officers do to speed traffic. They put the signals on flashing and attempt to direct traffic thereby making the situation much worst.

Their standard procedure is to let a direction of traffic move for a longer period of time than that allowed by the signals. The end result is that the back up of the stopped traffic becomes longer than usual. They then switch and repeat the process. What have we gained? A longer cycle; that's all.

The solution is to direct traffic in harmony with the signals. Let the signals do their job. The officers should and could provide an effective service by taking two actions. Wave traffic through on the green to give some cautious drivers a better sense of safety. If you are worried about the poor lighting, post some A-frames and use some of the overhead lights on the squad cars. Secondly, STOP the drivers who attempt to cross on the yellow. We all know what those folks do; block the intersection. Is there anything worst than sitting on a green light because an idiot tried to avoid sitting through a red light?

I also have a smaller complaint dealing with the same mess. Last Friday one officer was directing traffic northward on Wadsworth at 120th. Another was handling the southbound traffic. The second was getting rather frustrated with the first because his traffic flow dwindled to a dribble but the officer handling the northbound traffic kept sending cars through. Those of us either waiting to turn or sitting on 120th backed up more because of the lack of coordination and the inattention of one officer.

If the leadership at the PD made the decision to follow the current procedure of killing the signals, I hope you will either correct the situration or seek some guidance.

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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments

Submitted By: Ed Clayton

posted on 1/21/2007 @ 12:32:37 AM

Rated Blog Entry

Broomfield needs help with the PD in more ways than just traffic, but just training them to work as a team in high traffic situations would be a step in the right direction. Maybe the team effort would spill over into their handling of school issues. The Legacy assualt comes to mind....(shameless plug for a blog)...They don't have a clue, or they don't want one. I hope it's just the first choice, and that they get one

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Submitted By: Brendan Leonard

posted on 12/18/2006 @ 5:41:57 PM

Rated Blog Entry

Welcome back, Gene. I was beginning to get worried something had happened to you.

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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Gene Wieneke

Northglenn , CO

Gene Wieneke has posted 58 blog entries and 3 comments since joining on 7/27/2006. Gene Wieneke 's average blog rating is 3.54.

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