A year later, an Aurora man says drivers are still crashing into his property

AURORA — Residents who live near Columbia Road and Dartmouth Avenue in Aurora say speeding in their neighborhood has reached dangerous levels.

The latest incident occurred Sunday night when a driver crashed into Steve Robbins’ home, damaging three cars and two boats on his property.

“I was awake in the house and thought maybe lightning had struck very close,” Robbins recalled. “This time I had two boats and three vehicles affected.”

This is not the first time Denver7 spoke with Robbins. Last November, an Aurora police officer crashed into a fence and Robbins’ camper during a high-speed chase.

At the time, Robbins called on city officials to fix the blight on their street and add more signs and police officers. Robbins said a year later, he’s still dealing with the same problem.

“It was my camper last time,” he said. “That’s pretty much all I’ve got this time.”

Robbins said he has lived in the house since 1973 and has seen more than a dozen incidents. Across the street, neighbor Joseph Woolpow said the crashes are getting worse.

“It seems that everyone is running down the street. They don’t care about the stop sign. They don’t care about the fact that there are kids here,” Walpow said.

Volpow said a driver hit his truck several years ago.

“It was a street racing incident and he drove over here. It bounced off the curb and then landed in the back of my truck and bent the bumper,” he said.

Volpow claims the City of Aurora is unresponsive.

“We can’t seem to get any help from the city. We cannot obtain any enforcement action. We can’t get anything. And we continue to have incidents after incidents,” he said.

Volpow and Robbins are calling on city officials to take action to slow down drivers. Neighbors believe fences, loitering police officers, four-way stop signs and signs for drivers would make things much better.

“City of Aurora, please listen to our neighbors and do something about this,” Robbins said. “It’s just too much.”

The Aurora Police Department is still investigating Sunday’s crash. The department said alcohol may have been a factor, but is still investigating the incident.

Sunday’s crash remains under investigation, according to Aurora police. APD said alcohol is being considered as a possible factor, but added that has not been confirmed.

According to APD, the driver involved in the crash was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.

In a statement, spokesman Ryan Looby said the city of Aurora is expediting the lawsuit related to the incident, which occurred last November.

Looby said a survey of the area in August 2023 found it did not meet traffic calming requirements. However, areas with higher traffic and higher average speeds are traditionally prioritized during the prioritization process in the city’s annual program. Looby said the area is “actively being considered and compared to other projects for installation in 2025.”

Full statement:

First, we empathize with the homeowner and can appreciate how frustrated they are under the circumstances.

There are two elements to the situation we want to address: 1.) the November 2023 incident and 2.) the traffic issues in the area.

In January 2024, Steven Robbins filed a claim with the City Council in connection with the November 2023 incident. The lawsuit remains open. We are working to expedite the next steps given how much time has passed since the claim was filed. In part, we will require documentation from the homeowner that accurately accounts for damage and repair costs beyond the original estimate. Such documents are necessary to resolve the claim.

We are still aware of the request for traffic calming measures in the homeowner’s area, especially in light of the incident that reportedly happened last night, November 3rd. City of Aurora Traffic Officers received an application for the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTCP) in August 2023. Officers processed the application and collected speed and traffic data on the Dartmouth Avenue and Columbia Drive sections identified in the application. The study found the prevailing speed to be 30-32 mph or lower, with a daily traffic volume of approximately 650 vehicles per day. Although traffic volume is an expected indicator for a local road, the observed speeds meet the criteria for consideration of traffic calming installations through the annual program’s prioritization process. To prioritize projects within the available funds, City Council staff evaluate each application for traffic and road characteristics for each road. As a result of the prioritization process, the project could not be prioritized over other roads for installation in 2024. However, the application is still under active review and comparison with other projects for installation in 2025.

Thanks again for paying attention and bringing new issues to our attention so that we can properly address them.

Ryan Looby, City of Aurora

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