New continous flow interesection opens in Wheat Ridge

After four years of construction, a major project on Wadsworth Boulevard is nearing completion, and the final design is raising concerns among some drivers.

The first continuous flow intersection, or CFI, at Wadsworth Boulevard and 38th Avenue is scheduled opened Tuesday morning.

A second CFI, at Wadsworth and 44th Avenue, is expected to open in a week.

vAs the orange construction barrels come down, some nearby drivers say they are nervous about what comes next.

“I just see head-on accidents happening,” Carol Cortez said. “That’s what I see.”

The new design moves left-turning traffic across opposing lanes before vehicles reach the main intersection. By shifting those movements in advance, through-traffic and left turns can move at the same time. Transportation officials say the goal is to reduce delays, improve efficiency and lower the risk of crashes by eliminating extra signal phases.

Even so, some residents say the design feels confusing.

“It seems like you’re turning from the wrong lane, and you have to know how many intersections back you have to be to turn left, so yeah, it seems very confusing,” Cortez said.

She shared her frustration on a post announcing the changes on the Wheat Ridge government Facebook page.

“So you completely ruined Wadsworth,” she wrote.