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Roads south of Lincoln Ave. part of study
With growth comes more traffic on existing roads, and for Douglas County south of Lincoln Avenue, the issue has taken the form of an environmental impact statement now under way.
By By: Kathleen D. Stinson
With growth comes more traffic on existing roads, and for Douglas County south of Lincoln Avenue, the issue has taken the form of an environmental impact statement now under way.
The Federal Highway Administration will take into consideration recommendations from the impact statement when deciding how to improve the roadways.
A decision was expected this week.
Under scrutiny are U.S. 85 and Interstate 25 south of Lincoln Avenue to the El Paso County border. The Colorado Department of Transportation is hosting open houses to get comments from residents and agencies on the proposed alternatives to improve the road system.
PBS&J Consultants is preparing the impact study.
The consensus seems to be "build it [expand roads] sooner than later - as soon as possible," said Barry Schulz, PBS&J construction project manager.
Schulz said the challenge is to address everyone's concerns within the existing funding limitations.
There is "definitely not sufficient funding for all the improvements," Schulz said.
At an open house Nov. 14 in Castle Rock, residents asked about the proposed Surrey Ridge and Schweiger interchanges and how they would affect traffic in their neighborhoods.
They said they were concerned about an increase in traffic spilling off the interchanges.
Schulz said one option is to build a frontage road for local traffic.
"Another option is not to provide interchanges at both places," he said.CDOT project program engineer Wes Goff said there are things that can be done to mitigate the impact of highway widening such as wildlife crossings and trail enhancements improvements.
"It's a balancing act," Goff said.
U.S. 85 has a number of animal issues at stake, he said.
"There is a bobcat that regularly transverses across 85 all the time," Goff said.
Birds and elk cross the highway regularly also, he said.
"Social noise is a major issue for the I-25 corridor - there are a lot of homes out there," he said.
He said competing interests with regard to view corridors are at issue. Some residents want to see a noise wall constructed.
Two wildlife corridors and pedestrian trail crossings are in the preferred alternative option.
Schulz said these improvements are feasible, but everything costs money.
He said the funding limitations are "dynamic" and there is a possibility the budget could expand.
The I-25 budget is set at $54.5 million and the U.S. 85 at $97 million. Alternatives under consideration include a no-action alternative.
Schulz said his group pulls together a lot of expertise such as environmental and resource specialists and looks at the "intense public involvement" to come up with the recommendations for the impact statement.
The "preferred" alternative to date for the I-25 corridor includes eight lanes between C-470 and Meadows/Founders Parkway and six lanes between the parkway and Douglas Lane.
Also involved is reconstruction of the Schweiger Interchange into a half diamond and Surrey Ridge interchange into a three-quarters diamond.
The preferred alternative for the U.S. 85 corridor includes six lanes between C-470 and Highlands Ranch Parkway, four lanes between the parkway and Meadows Parkway, a reconfiguration of the U.S. 85/Colorado 67 intersection, a Sedalia frontage road, a U.S. 85 minor realignment to avoid impact at Cook Ranch and enhanced wildlife crossing.
The Federal Highway Administration will take into consideration recommendations from the impact statement when deciding how to improve the roadways.
A decision was expected this week.
Under scrutiny are U.S. 85 and Interstate 25 south of Lincoln Avenue to the El Paso County border. The Colorado Department of Transportation is hosting open houses to get comments from residents and agencies on the proposed alternatives to improve the road system.
PBS&J Consultants is preparing the impact study.
The consensus seems to be "build it [expand roads] sooner than later - as soon as possible," said Barry Schulz, PBS&J construction project manager.
Schulz said the challenge is to address everyone's concerns within the existing funding limitations.
There is "definitely not sufficient funding for all the improvements," Schulz said.
At an open house Nov. 14 in Castle Rock, residents asked about the proposed Surrey Ridge and Schweiger interchanges and how they would affect traffic in their neighborhoods.
They said they were concerned about an increase in traffic spilling off the interchanges.
Schulz said one option is to build a frontage road for local traffic.
"Another option is not to provide interchanges at both places," he said.CDOT project program engineer Wes Goff said there are things that can be done to mitigate the impact of highway widening such as wildlife crossings and trail enhancements improvements.
"It's a balancing act," Goff said.
U.S. 85 has a number of animal issues at stake, he said.
"There is a bobcat that regularly transverses across 85 all the time," Goff said.
Birds and elk cross the highway regularly also, he said.
"Social noise is a major issue for the I-25 corridor - there are a lot of homes out there," he said.
He said competing interests with regard to view corridors are at issue. Some residents want to see a noise wall constructed.
Two wildlife corridors and pedestrian trail crossings are in the preferred alternative option.
Schulz said these improvements are feasible, but everything costs money.
He said the funding limitations are "dynamic" and there is a possibility the budget could expand.
The I-25 budget is set at $54.5 million and the U.S. 85 at $97 million. Alternatives under consideration include a no-action alternative.
Schulz said his group pulls together a lot of expertise such as environmental and resource specialists and looks at the "intense public involvement" to come up with the recommendations for the impact statement.
The "preferred" alternative to date for the I-25 corridor includes eight lanes between C-470 and Meadows/Founders Parkway and six lanes between the parkway and Douglas Lane.
Also involved is reconstruction of the Schweiger Interchange into a half diamond and Surrey Ridge interchange into a three-quarters diamond.
The preferred alternative for the U.S. 85 corridor includes six lanes between C-470 and Highlands Ranch Parkway, four lanes between the parkway and Meadows Parkway, a reconfiguration of the U.S. 85/Colorado 67 intersection, a Sedalia frontage road, a U.S. 85 minor realignment to avoid impact at Cook Ranch and enhanced wildlife crossing.
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