When it's time to hit the road, visibility is of utmost importance to Debra Cole.
"So, I make sure everything is clean, the same with my headlights," Cole said.
Every night, she drives down Highway 93 between Golden and Boulder.
"Because I'm a night nanny. I go to work. I have to be in that area at 9:00 at night. I come home at 7 in the morning," Cole said.
Often times, on this curvy stretch of road nestled right up against the Front Range, drivers can have problems, especially during bad weather.
"So, I drive in the dark almost both times," Cole said. "It's hard to see through there."
The Colorado Department of Transportation has worked to change that. Workers installed solar-powered LED lights which will come on at dusk to help drivers see where lanes turn.
"This is something we are really excited about," Stacia Sellers, CDOT Communications specialist, said. "It is very dark. These are curves, It does get windy. You also have blowing snow a lot of the times, too. So, it's really helpful to have LED lighting in the pavement so you can really differentiate between if you're in the lane you're supposed to be in of what the other lane is."
Cole said the difference is huge. "So, yes, they help a lot," she said.
CDOT first installed these LED lights along I-70 near Floyd Hill just east of Idaho Springs.
"We saw a huge reduction in crashes resulting in injuries or fatalities due to new pavement lighting," Sellers said.
She hopes to see the same kind of results along Highway 93. Sellers says CDOT would like to install these lights in more places, but it is a bit expensive -- between $15,000 and $25,000 per linear mile.
"We hope to use these in the future, but with limited funding that we have right now, we really need to be aware of our budget and how we're using that money," Sellers said.
Cole is just happy to see something meant to make her commute a little easier.
"I drive it every day, pretty much 7 days a week, I drive it," Cole said. "I was happy to see them out those in cause it is a very dark road."
