High-Crash Corridors
High-crash corridors: US 287, SH 119, SH 66, and SH 52
Longmont sits at the crossroads of several documented high-crash state highways, and distraction turns each of them dangerous. US Highway 287 runs through Longmont as Main Street, an undivided highway corridor where CDOT data shows approximately 830 crashes per year on the Erie-to-Boulder County line segment, accounting for 29 percent of all fatal crashes in Boulder County, with no median barrier between northbound and southbound lanes. State Highway 119, known locally as Ken Pratt Boulevard and the Diagonal Highway, carries the highest rate of severe crashes per mile in unincorporated Boulder County and connects Longmont with Boulder at high vehicle speeds. The intersection of US 287 and SH 119, identified by Longmont traffic engineers as the city's highest-crash intersection, recorded over 290 crashes in a recent five-year period and handles more than 70,000 vehicles per day. SH 66 and SH 52 add additional arterial traffic through the city. A driver who can manage inattention on a quiet road cannot at this intersection, with this much volume.