Dear Action Line: What is the purpose of this very expensive sign in the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 550 about a mile south of the intersection with County Road 220? I have not seen anything displayed on it since the new road opened. – Larry Zauberis
Dear Larry: Remember the old days when you ordered something by mail-order catalog, or by phone, and you waited months because that item was on “back order”? Maybe it was a fleece jacket in goat gray, medium size, tapered sleeves, with snap-up collar. You kept waiting and waiting, until finally that day came when it arrived in the mail. And then, when it came, months later, it was too warm to wear it and it was too small anyway.
Ah, isn’t it fun to remember the good old days, when we patiently and expectantly waited for things like that to happen. You’d get a busy signal and have to keep dialing that rotary phone over and over again until you got a ring. No way to leave a phone message. Or, say, if you wanted to watch the news, you’d have to wait until 10 p.m. No CNN or Fox News.
Action Line doesn’t remember those days either, and totally made up the intriguing color of “goat gray,” but maybe some people do. Don’t misunderstand. Action Line was around for those days, but just actually doesn’t remember. You know, because of remembery-like problems. It sounds as if those old days must have been horrible, and you’d waste a lot of valuable time waiting.
Anyway, for an answer, we turned of course to our helpful friend at the Colorado Department of Transportation, Lisa Schwantes, who is nice enough to keep answering these questions despite the sometimes snarky printed responses from Action Line.
The sign, technically known as a variable message sign, or VMS, will be up and running. Just maybe not right away.
“The U.S. 550 and U.S. 160 Connection South project team has encountered some supply issues causing delays to some work items,” she informed Action Line. “Electronic components required for the new information technology systems (ITS) have been on back order. The contractor and subcontractors are working hard to solve the problem, searching for other supply sources.”
So, ITS going to take a while to integrate the components and put the VMS into action.
The big question: What is it for? Schwantes said the new sign will benefit travelers in several ways:
CDOT’s traffic management center will post information to inform drivers of incidents, road conditions, detours, special events, travel times and other useful travel information, she said. Also, a web camera here will be among eight placed on poles along this stretch of U.S. 550; these will provide real-time images of the road and weather conditions. Finally, a weather station will gather and record data “to help with forecasting and pre-storm preparations for our maintenance crews.”
And there will be educational messages, like reminders telling drivers that as of Jan. 1 they must drop their phones or get fined. So, Action Line talking now, if you were saving any important phone calls for a boring drive, you missed the window.
Schwantes, always the serious one, put it this way: “In a move to enhance road safety and reduce distracted driving crashes, the (new) law will prohibit drivers from using a mobile electronic device while driving (though hands-free accessories are permitted). The new law expands the ban on using cell phones beyond just texting.”
Dear Action Line: There’s a rumor that you are quitting your job as Action Line. Or maybe you were fired? This seems ridiculous, because, I mean, what else are you possibly qualified to do? – Juan Trew Reeder
Dear Juan: With regrets, yes, this Action Line is leaving the position after four-plus dedicated years of service.
The hope is that a successor will soon follow. But at least as of deadline, no one has yet stepped forward to claim the mantel, which would be silly, because a mantel is a shelf above a fireplace. No one has claimed the mantle either, not even Mickey. (Sorry, a little bit of Yankees humor there.)
The end of an era? Perhaps. But like the seasons, pro football coaches and many downtown businesses, Action Lines come and go.
Yes, it’s very sad. But this is just how life works. So now this Action Line will fade into obscurity, soon to be forgotten like other heroic crusading journalists of the past. Like Peter Zenger, Ida Tarbell, Sally Field. You know. All the greats you don’t remember.
Thanks for all your fantastic questions and comments and photos, and for all the friendships formed during a fun and enlightening stint. Wishing you all the best.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Sally Field a crusading journalist, you ask? Well, sort of. Google “Absence of Malice.” Zenger (1697-1746) and Tarbell (1857-1944)? Those are real people, not actors. More Googling encouraged …
