I’m writing once again to address the safety issues of driving on U.S. Highway 40 in Grand County.

With four separate crashes in seven days, one with a fatality, we can’t just remind drivers to drive more carefully. There are constant danger spots and problems with drainage, signage, speed limits and seasonal potholes that contribute to these crashes.

The right lane on westbound U.S. 40 is a constant puddle/black-ice death trap in the spring, with insufficient drainage for the slope and curve. Even a blinking yellow light with a sign telling drivers to watch for black ice would be better than nothing.

We also have a patchwork of pothole repair instead of repaving the lanes, which must be done. After the dreadful summer of 2023 on Berthoud Pass, where there were more holes than pavement, those lanes were redone and have held up well. The rest of Grand County needs the same attention. We get millions of visitors each year, and clearly many of them don’t know how to drive on these roads.

Better signage is a good first step. But please contact the Colorado Department of Transportation and demand that Grand County be switched from Region 3 out of Grand Junction and into Region 1 out of Denver. We are underfunded, ignored and left to simply “drive carefully.”

Our road is dangerous, and it’s literally the only one we’ve got. Do better CDOT.