DENVER (KDVR) — Crash after crash is being caught on camera at the corner of East 16th Avenue and Yosemite Street. It’s a street that divides Denver from Aurora.
To say the video is alarming is an understatement. A home’s video surveillance system has captured 18 crashes and near misses at the corner since June 2019.
“It’s crazy. Something has to happen,” said Shihan Qu, who lives there. “I’ve told every cop that I could find who deals with the crashes here, but nothing has really happened.”
They just won’t stop happening. Doc Donaldson can see the intersection from his front porch.
“You can’t see oncoming traffic this way so a lot of times, people will gamble and try to go across,” Donaldson said.
In the short time that the Problem Solvers were at the intersection, we saw several cars run stop signs. Another car made three short stops before it was clear to go.
At one corner with stop signs, there are trees and shrubs. At the other sits a small bush.
They do not appear to be obstructing the stop sign. Still, car after car run the stops.
“It’s always a bit shocking. The worst of it is when it’s fatal, and that was before we installed the camera,” Qu said.
Because the intersection sits on the border that separates Denver from Aurora, each city is responsible for a stop sign, but it’s not clear who’s responsible for engineering the intersection’s design.
“I don’t know what can be done. We either need another stop sign or even a traffic mirror that might help. I don’t know,” Donaldson said.
Whatever the case, neighbors who live here say something has to be done here quickly. What they are seeing happen is bad enough already.
Aurora Police said it has counted 10 crashes here in the past two-and-a-half years. Denver was not able to provide statistics for crashes on its side.
A spokesperson for the City of Aurora told the Problem Solvers on Thursday: “Aurora coordinates closely with Denver along this corridor, and Denver staff has already reached out to our traffic team. We will be meeting with their team to coordinate and review this intersection very soon.”
Qu said he’s hoping flashing lights or a speed hump will help solve a lot of problems.