Jayson from Denver7 writes, "What's driving you crazy? How do you spell Ridgegate? Some signs say Ridge Gate. Some say Ridgegate. Others say RidgeGate. What is the correct way?"
Yes, this is one of my questions I wanted answered.
We have to start with the correct way to spell the road name. During my research, I talked to several people in different agencies and departments who were all spelling the parkway differently. Some spelled it in lowercase like Ridgegate. Others had it as two words, Ridge Gate.
Since the name stems from the RidgeGate development, I asked the folks at the RidgeGate development as well as the Rampart Range Metro District that was formed to serve as the infrastructure group developing that part of Lone Tree. Both tell me the official name is RidgeGate.
When I talked to John Cotten, Public Works Director for the City of Lone Tree, he said the correct way to spell the parkway is RidgeGate.
But somewhere in the making of the road signs in Lone Tree and on I-25, the name changed.
The problem is there are some street signs in the city of Lone Tree and some CDOT signs along I-25 that are spelled incorrectly. The Lone Tree signs are spelled in either all caps or with just a capital R and not a capital G. The CDOT signs are spelled in all capitals, but have a space between the Ridge and Gate.
MORE: Read more traffic issues driving people crazy
Bob Wilson from CDOT said it comes down to a lack of consistency in how RidgeGate is spelled and how their computer system interprets the spelling.
"The software to layout the signs will place a half space to break up the word when another capital letter is introduced in a word," Wilson said. "It appears a half a space exists between Ridge and Gate to help drivers in reading the signs.
Cotten said the problem in Lone Tree is having to conform to the new federal guidelines about street sign lettering.
"The new federal highway guidelines require these signs to be lowercase, not in all caps," Cotten explained. "Some of the signs are still in all caps, and others without a capital G, so they will have to be replaced.”
Cotten told me the cost to replace each individual sign is around $500 . Then he said they have to add an additional $500 to $600 in labor to put them up. The cost is higher for CDOT to correct their signs on I-25 since the signs are larger and it takes more people to replace them along the interstate.
Neither Lone Tree, nor CDOT, had a timeframe of when the replacements would be made, but both assure me they are working on fixing all the signs.
Denver7 traffic reporter Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is about 20 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
