Have you ever sat at an intersection and thought, "WTF?"

Where am I supposed to go here?

Or, have you ever ended up going the wrong way down a one way on a street that you swear wasn't a one way one block ago?

Intersections that make you go "Hmmm."

There are a few intersections in Northern Colorado, and I'm not including roundabouts, that, until you get used to them, can make you feel like you're going the wrong way down a one way. Here are a few.

Also, for the uninitiated we may need a definition of 'janky'. According to the Online Slang Dictionary...

adjective

  • broken or functioning poorly or improperly; "messed up".
In short, janky means not right.

10 Street and 10th Avenue in Greeley

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I used to joke that U2 wrote their seminal song Where the Streets Have No Name about Greeley. I mean, could we just name one group of streets, either the ones that go north and south or the ones that go east and west, by numbers? I'm supposed to remember that streets go east/west and avenues go north/south? I'm digressing.

This is the 'Most Likely to get you a DUI' traffic spot in the region. 10th St. turns from a two way into a one way at 10th Ave, and if you aren't paying close attention, it can be easy to miss. Especially because in this cultural district of Greeley, people are often looking for a place to park and not at road signs.

Madison and Eisenhower in Loveland

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This one isn't that confusing to drive through, but I noticed that there is a more going on than meets the eye when I've ridden my bicycle through it. For some reason, there are 4 sections on the north and south sides that are all going in a different direction.

For all the interchanges here, the signage is remarkably effective, because while there is a lot going on, I never find myself feeling too lost here.

34 and 85 in Greeley

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This is one that comes up on you really quickly, and if you're not in the proper lane, you may not be going in the proper direction for very long. Approaching from the north with the intention of going east is especially tricky, because if the destination is Fort Morgan but you don't go toward Denver at one turn, you'll be on O Street or something.

Chalk this one up to every which way but loose, but you better be sure it's the right turn you want to make, Clyde.

Anywhere with a Frontage Road

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People, like me, from places where roads and towns aren't set on a grid because the rolling hills don't allow it don't know what a Frontage Road is. When I first moved here I was like, "Hey, this town has a street named 'Frontage Road', too. It must be a thing around here."

Put this one under the "Most Likely to Make You Think You Were Merging onto the Highway" category.

Pine, Walnut, College and Laporte in Old Town

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Stop me if you've heard this one. Four streets sat next to a bar in Old Town....

The story is that when Fort Collins was founded, the streets were originally set up to run parallel to the river. Franklin Avery came in and changed all that, giving us the north/south, east/west orientation that we are used to. By then, it was too late to change some streets in Old Town, giving us the only triangles made by Fort Collins streets.

This intersection will have you on Pine thinking, "I thought College Avenue was longer than this."

Which intersection do you think is the jankiest?

 

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