What Are They Guarding???

My Honey and I were in Denver this past weekend to celebrate his birthday, catch up with some friends and visit Colorado's Red Rocks Park, a 'National Historic Landmark', which is everything and more that you might imagine! Primus and Mastadon were playing Sunday evening, the day we visited, but we didn't really have time to go to the show. That said, if you get the chance, SEE A SHOW THERE! The locale is nothing short of magnificent.

During our Denver travels, we passed this guy on Saturday, where he was very busy either sleeping...or checking his phone. It was mystifying, because there wasn't much else to see at the intersection. I somehow want to be indignant about the likelihood that he was probably getting paid decent overtime for Saturday 'guard duty'.

Sunday, we passed the same intersection - different guy, also likely making good OT. And it still seems unclear what he's guarding.

Any insights?