SIDE STREETS: New guardrail has residents resting easy

One Colorado Springs neighborhood finally is protected. Another awaits help.

Folks living along South Chelton Road in the Spring Lane at Valley Hi neighborhood are resting easier now that the city spent $10,000 and installed 200 feet of guardrail to protect them from cars that repeatedly destroyed their fences, decks and even a hot tub.

Their years-long struggle for help was the subject of a December Side Streets. Then-City Councilwoman Margaret Radford picked up the cause and helped get the guardrail approved. It was installed two weeks ago.

"It's a big improvement," said Spring Lane resident Elke Dickinson, who has a stack of photos of her backyard in ruins over the years. "We have tried to do this for 15 years, off and on. We are very happy it's finally done."

No longer do they rely on a crude barrier of boulders they installed along Chelton between the curb and the sidewalk. Now, they have professionally installed guardrail to coax errant cars back onto Chelton.

But folks living at the bottom of Vindicator Drive where it dead-ends at Rockrimmon Boulevard remain on edge, especially Donald and Colleen Kunecke, whose home backs up to the intersection and has seen more than its share of wreckage.

Before the Kuneckes bought it in 2000, a soda delivery truck came crashing into the yard. Prior to that, a pickup destroyed the fence and slammed into the dining room.

In yet another wreck, a car smashed the fence and, you guessed it, a hot tub.

(What is it with lousy drivers taking out hot tubs?)

Then, on June 3, witnesses say a huge, white sport utility vehicle roared down Vindicator, slammed into two cars waiting at the stoplight, lurched through the intersection, jumped the curb and blasted into the Kunecke's backyard.

"We were getting ready to eat dinner," said Colleen Kunecke. "It sounded like an explosion. It scared the hell out of me."

The SUV ended up wrapped around a tree. Police identified the driver as Felicia Benjamin, who has been cited by police for driving without insurance, careless driving and driving a defective vehicle. She told authorities her brakes failed.

The Kuneckes back yard resembles South Chelton prior to the guardrail: huge rocks positioned to deflect wayward vehicles.

Now, the Kuneckes are hoping the city will help them the way it helped the South Chelton crowd.

They believe their situation is just as dangerous. Perhaps more so because each day dozens of children walking to and from Eagleview Middle School stand in the very spot cars keep flying off Vindicator.

"Our real fear is for the kids," Donald Kunecke said. "I'm amazed nobody has hit a kid on that street yet."

City traffic engineer Dave Krauth promised to research the intersection.

"We can't line every road with guard rails and concrete barriers," he said. "But we'll look at it."
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See photos and more on my blog at
 gazette.com/blogs/sidestreets