Print
E-mail
Comment
Planning continues for Douglas Lane interchange
A new interchange to I-25 is in the works for Castle Rock for the first time since the Founders Parkway interchange was built in 1999, replacing partial U.S. 85 access.
By By: Kiersten J. Mayer
A new interchange to I-25 is in the works for Castle Rock for the first time since the Founders Parkway interchange was built in 1999, replacing partial U.S. 85 access.
Douglas County is spearheading the Douglas Lane interchange project in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Town of Castle Rock, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various developers who are contributing money to the project.
The interchange will be at the intersection of existing Douglas Lane and the frontage road located on the east side of Interstate 25 south of Castle Rock.
Still in preliminary stages, Douglas County road and bridge employees involved with the project are hoping to complete the environmental assessment and an intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Castle Rock this year, said Dirk Zender, Douglas County real property services specialist.
Zender said the interchange project is complicated because of environmental concerns with the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, involvement of a flood plain and obtaining permits for proposed construction over Plum Creek. Douglas County is also working with Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads because the interchange will be built over both sets train tracks.
An environmental clearance must be granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with CDOT as intermediary. There are also various developers, property owners and their interests to be considered, said Zender.
For 33 years, Margaret Davis Boone has owned 29 acres of land east of Interstate 25 and north of Douglas Lane. Her son, Gregg Boone of Elizabeth, said they have been waiting 20 years for construction of the interchange.
The Douglas Lane northbound on-ramp to I-25 will be built on part of Davis Boone's property and the reconfigured frontage road will bisect it, he said.
There is a rental house on the property that will end up between the ramp and the frontage road, but it will be demolished shortly after construction begins, Boone said.
"(The property) has been annexed into (Castle Rock) and zoned," he said. "It will cease to be residential property."
Shortly after construction the property will be developed to its best and highest use, and Boone's family is in the process of looking at that potential now, either as light industrial or business development, he said.
Negotiations with property owners along the proposed project site for rights of way and easements have not officially started because the Town of Castle Rock IGEA and environmental assessment processes are not finished, said Zender.
"It's like dominoes falling," he said. "Until some of the other dominoes fall, we can't even approach the property owners and start discussing the options with them. We haven't even started the right-of-way process."
Douglas County is spearheading the Douglas Lane interchange project in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Town of Castle Rock, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various developers who are contributing money to the project.
The interchange will be at the intersection of existing Douglas Lane and the frontage road located on the east side of Interstate 25 south of Castle Rock.
Still in preliminary stages, Douglas County road and bridge employees involved with the project are hoping to complete the environmental assessment and an intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Castle Rock this year, said Dirk Zender, Douglas County real property services specialist.
Zender said the interchange project is complicated because of environmental concerns with the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, involvement of a flood plain and obtaining permits for proposed construction over Plum Creek. Douglas County is also working with Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads because the interchange will be built over both sets train tracks.
An environmental clearance must be granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with CDOT as intermediary. There are also various developers, property owners and their interests to be considered, said Zender.
For 33 years, Margaret Davis Boone has owned 29 acres of land east of Interstate 25 and north of Douglas Lane. Her son, Gregg Boone of Elizabeth, said they have been waiting 20 years for construction of the interchange.
The Douglas Lane northbound on-ramp to I-25 will be built on part of Davis Boone's property and the reconfigured frontage road will bisect it, he said.
There is a rental house on the property that will end up between the ramp and the frontage road, but it will be demolished shortly after construction begins, Boone said.
"(The property) has been annexed into (Castle Rock) and zoned," he said. "It will cease to be residential property."
Shortly after construction the property will be developed to its best and highest use, and Boone's family is in the process of looking at that potential now, either as light industrial or business development, he said.
Negotiations with property owners along the proposed project site for rights of way and easements have not officially started because the Town of Castle Rock IGEA and environmental assessment processes are not finished, said Zender.
"It's like dominoes falling," he said. "Until some of the other dominoes fall, we can't even approach the property owners and start discussing the options with them. We haven't even started the right-of-way process."
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. |
