Hi, Johnnie >> Why has the left turn to head north on Hover Street, when leaving Home Depot been eliminated? What is the recommended method to head north on Hover when exiting Home Depot?

Thanks! — Doris

Hi, Doris >> There are big changes coming to that section of Hover, and this right-in, right-out configuration on the north side of the Home Depot parking lot is just one of them.

If you shop at The Home Depot — I’ve been known to wander its wide aisles — then you’ve been watching the earth moving that’s been going on just to the north in preparation for Fairgrounds Marketplace.

This new development is bordered by Blue Ribbon Farm on the north, Hover Street on the east, Home Depot on the south, and the Mountain Brook residential development to the west.

Key to this new development — which will include multi-family housing, as well as a Dutch Brothers coffee shop and a Murphy gas station — is the extension of Mountain Brook Avenue from Dry Creek Drive to Hover Street. Where Mountain Brook intersects Hover, you soon will see a new traffic light.

Longmont spokesman Rogelio Mares said in an email that construction of the new traffic signal is set to begin in mid-June and that it is “anticipated to be fully operational by midsummer.”

For motorists exiting the north side of the Home Depot parking lot, a left turn onto Hover could test nerve, skill and sanity. It required crossing two lanes of 45 mph southbound traffic and a left-hand turn lane into the parking lot for northbound traffic, while trying to safely merge with northbound traffic traveling at 45 mph. I know. I white-knuckled it a few times.

“Apart from the development review process, the city of Longmont identified this location for safety enhancements due to the frequency and severity of previous crashes,” Mares said. “This measure was taken in response as the majority of incidents involved vehicles attempting to cross multiple lanes to turn northbound onto Hover Street. The change to a right-in, right-out movement reduces potential conflict points and overall crash risk.”

As I noted in a column last fall, these right-in, right-out configurations are common at shopping centers around the city.

Long before that right-in, right-out “splitter island” was installed at the Home Depot north exit, I had determined a left turn wasn’t worth the risk. Plus, depending on what I’d purchased, I didn’t want a messy load-shift in the Johnniemobile. So I began regularly exiting the south side of the parking lot onto Lykins Gulch Road.

In fact, Doris, that is the city’s recommendation for how to head “north” out of the parking lot.

“City staff recommends using Lykins Gulch Road to head west from Home Depot to Dry Creek Drive, Dry Creek Drive south to the Nelson Road signalized intersection, left or east at the signal to Hover Street, and north at the Hover/Nelson signalized intersection,” Mares said.

Now that Dry Creek connects to Mountain Brook, I take Lykins Gulch to Dry Creek to Mountain Brook. Mountain Brook connects with South Fordham Street, which connects to Rogers Road.

By midsummer, I’ll have another option.

Thanks for the question, Doris.

— Send questions to johnnie@times-call.com.