Back in May 2021, I was driving east on Lake Avenue and noticed the first traffic circle or roundabout near the community church being worked on. I have been concerned about these roundabouts since 1999. I even sued the city because I was worried about the reduction in lanes from a four-lane state highway to a two-lane (with center turn lane) road on Lake Avenue.
The research I did back then was due to the problems of getting specific types of fire equipment around them to The Broadmoor hotel. An additional concern I voiced was that the city would now be on the hook for the maintenance of Lake Avenue instead of the state.
What’s a WUI?
In 2000, the Federal Government came out with a new name for some areas of the United States. The name was Wildland Urban Interface or WUI. OK, something new to me. I didn’t know about this nomenclature until May 2021. And I didn’t have a clue as to how important WUI would become in my life, as this new name has become synonymous with wildfire disasters.
Since I live in an area of Colorado Springs in one of these WUI areas, I began to research this interface and began a trek down a huge rabbit hole! These areas are a wonderful place to live surrounded by nature. Unless there is a fire.
When a WUI has a fire, it becomes a dangerous? area of the city due to the types of trees it has. Specifically pine trees. I would come to learn from my research that these WUI are really a double-edged sword due to these conflicting realities.
How Roundabouts and Pine Trees Affect Fire
How can a wonderful, scenic area of a city be two things at once? The single word to answer this question is fire. Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Greenpeace and author of “Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom,” appeared on the Kim Monson Show on July 20, 2021 (at minute 53:30 of the podcast), calls them firesticks, a translation for the Australian Aboriginal name for pine trees.
Because of the sap the trees light up and can even “explode” in a fire situation. I looked out my kitchen window that night and saw two huge pine trees touching the wall of our front patio. I was saddened.
Asking the Mayor to Remove Roundabouts
To further my frustration, I have asked for updated traffic maps from the city to no avail. I have submitted CORA requests, but nothing. I have also written an email to the mayor on May 14 asking for the roundabouts to be removed. Here is an excerpt from that email:
“As I was driving Lake Avenue, I noticed a construction zone around the Old Broadmoor Road “roundabout” and inquired as to what was happening. I was told it is an Engineering Project to address issues of concrete repair related to the curbs and medians. I respectfully request that all work is stopped on this project immediately and that all of the Lake Avenue “roundabouts” be removed. In addition, Lake Avenue should be returned to its original design of four lanes to address public safety concerns.”
The saga will continue however, as I believe this could be a problem for other districts as well. I will continue to prod the mayor and city council to truly address these issues with concrete solutions!
