Following the wishes of residents in the Pleasant View area, the Montezuma County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to keep open the intersection of Road BB and Highway 491.
The Colorado Department of Transportation considers the turn, which is on the way to Hovenweep National Monument, unsafe because it sits near the bottom of a hill and sight distance is inadequate. CDOT had offered the county more than $600,000 to upgrade nearby roads if the county agreed to the closure. But during a public hearing Monday, numerous residents urged the county to keep that end of BB open. They suggested stricter enforcement of speed limits instead. CDOT plans to make the turn a right-in, right-out intersection as the alternative to closure. Commission chairman Larry Don Suckla said citizens don’t want that option, either, but attorney John Baxter said the county’s ability to fight it would be limited.
