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U.S. 85 project under way
Commuters who use U.S. 85 as an alternate route from Castle Rock to metro Denver are finding more traffic congestion at Highlands Ranch Parkway because of road construction.
By By:Kiersten J. Mayer
Commuters who use U.S. 85 as an alternate route from Castle Rock to metro Denver are finding more traffic congestion at Highlands Ranch Parkway because of road construction.
The Colorado Department of Transportation started a widening project Sept. 12 covering six miles from the intersection of U.S. 85, also known as Santa Fe Drive, and Highlands Ranch Parkway just north of Titan Parkway.
The $9.8 million project will culminate in four lanes for U.S. 85, in addition to another turn lane onto eastbound Highlands Ranch Parkway from southbound U.S. 85, said Stacey Stegman, public relations director for CDOT.
The intersection will be reconstructed with new traffic signals, crosswalk markings and sidewalks, she said. They are also adding an acceleration lane from Carder Court, north of Highlands Ranch Parkway, onto southbound U.S. 85 and a bypass lane for southbound traffic at the entrance to the law enforcement training center on the east side of the highway, just north of Louviers.
Crews are working Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Another part of project is resurfacing U.S. 85 between the Titan Parkway interchange and Louviers, about two miles.
Bob Wilson, CDOT spokesman, said surfacing was scheduled to start Sunday and will be done Friday. Traffic will be down to one lane, alternating north and south, and commuters should expect delays of up to 15 minutes, said Wilson. The speed limit will be reduced to 40 mph through the work zone, he said.
Although the work is part of scheduled upgrades and high priority for the area, Stegman said CDOT didn't have the full amount of funding.
"The state received extra federal funds through the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003," she said. "Without it, CDOT wouldn't have had the money for these upgrades. The governor allocated $60 million to transportation projects across the state and this was one of them."
Duane Fellhauer, director of public works for Douglas County, said the county is happy to see CDOT is continuing to move forward on U.S. 85.
"One of the problems has been money," he said. "They've never had enough to do the entire project from C470 to Castle Rock, but little by little they're making headway."
Another concern for Douglas County was the C470/Santa Fe interchange was not included in the original the C-470 corridor environmental assessment and the county was concerned about the bottleneck at C-470 and Santa Fe, said Fellhauer.
The county approached the federal government and asked for discretionary money to help with that interchange and received help from Colorado leaders at the federal level - Sens. Wayne Allard R-Colo., Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., and Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo.
CDOT amended the study to include the interchange after Douglas County received discretionary funds, he said.
"We have hope that once we get through the study process we can make some improvements at the interchange," said Fellhauer. "I really think unless something happens at that interchange we'll be stuck with the bottleneck."
Contact Kiersten J. Mayer at kmayer@ccnewspapers.net
The Colorado Department of Transportation started a widening project Sept. 12 covering six miles from the intersection of U.S. 85, also known as Santa Fe Drive, and Highlands Ranch Parkway just north of Titan Parkway.
The $9.8 million project will culminate in four lanes for U.S. 85, in addition to another turn lane onto eastbound Highlands Ranch Parkway from southbound U.S. 85, said Stacey Stegman, public relations director for CDOT.
The intersection will be reconstructed with new traffic signals, crosswalk markings and sidewalks, she said. They are also adding an acceleration lane from Carder Court, north of Highlands Ranch Parkway, onto southbound U.S. 85 and a bypass lane for southbound traffic at the entrance to the law enforcement training center on the east side of the highway, just north of Louviers.
Crews are working Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Another part of project is resurfacing U.S. 85 between the Titan Parkway interchange and Louviers, about two miles.
Bob Wilson, CDOT spokesman, said surfacing was scheduled to start Sunday and will be done Friday. Traffic will be down to one lane, alternating north and south, and commuters should expect delays of up to 15 minutes, said Wilson. The speed limit will be reduced to 40 mph through the work zone, he said.
Although the work is part of scheduled upgrades and high priority for the area, Stegman said CDOT didn't have the full amount of funding.
"The state received extra federal funds through the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003," she said. "Without it, CDOT wouldn't have had the money for these upgrades. The governor allocated $60 million to transportation projects across the state and this was one of them."
Duane Fellhauer, director of public works for Douglas County, said the county is happy to see CDOT is continuing to move forward on U.S. 85.
"One of the problems has been money," he said. "They've never had enough to do the entire project from C470 to Castle Rock, but little by little they're making headway."
Another concern for Douglas County was the C470/Santa Fe interchange was not included in the original the C-470 corridor environmental assessment and the county was concerned about the bottleneck at C-470 and Santa Fe, said Fellhauer.
The county approached the federal government and asked for discretionary money to help with that interchange and received help from Colorado leaders at the federal level - Sens. Wayne Allard R-Colo., Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., and Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo.
CDOT amended the study to include the interchange after Douglas County received discretionary funds, he said.
"We have hope that once we get through the study process we can make some improvements at the interchange," said Fellhauer. "I really think unless something happens at that interchange we'll be stuck with the bottleneck."
Contact Kiersten J. Mayer at kmayer@ccnewspapers.net
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