Beginning August 2007 County line Rd. between Colo. Blvd. and University will officially be under construction. they’ll begin with the relocation of utilities and the construction of a retaining wall and sound wall on the north side of the road. The current plan is to maintain traffic with two open lanes of traffic for the duration of construction. The concept is to make this stretch of County Line a four lane road and remove the hills in the area. As part of this project, a new intersection with additional turn lanes will also be constructed at County Line and University. Construction is expected to be completed October 2008.

 

Arapahoe Rd. between Colorado Blvd. and Holly will be under re-construction from August 2007 to October 2008. This construction will be for the replacement of curb / gutter and road bedding of Arapahoe Rd. The south side of Arapahoe Rd. will have utilities relocated, new grading and a fence added. The fence will be wood or possible vinyl. There will be a new intersection at Colo. Blvd. and Arapahoe Rd. Construction of this intersection will be delayed until June/July 2008 so as not to interfere with the school year or the safety of the children at Newton Middle School. 

 

The intersection at Arapahoe Rd. and University is up for a major overhaul. It’s scheduled to begin November 2007 and be completed by September 2008. Construction will widen both roads and add additional turn lanes. They will try to maintain four lanes of traffic N/S and E/W. The medians at the intersection will look similar to the intersection at Arapahoe and Quebec.

 

Also contributing to the traffic problems, will be the long awaited start of construction with “The Streets at Southglenn”. I’ve heard construction should start in earnest, later this month (July). The developer, Alberta, has 85% of the commercial leased properties in place and has finally received lender funding. There will be (3) major contractors on site plus a bevy of subcontractors. All this activity means a lot more traffic from management teams, city inspectors, architects, engineers, labor force, vendors, suppliers, etc. Along with this labor force we’ll see a marked increase in traffic on University Blvd. and the surrounding area.

 

Even though the city is indicating that the roadways will be open to traffic on all these projects, there will be backups, and there will be delays. I’m expecting much traffic that normally travels on Arapahoe Rd., University and County Line Rd. Will likely seek relief from traffic congestion on Dry Creek and Colorado Blvd. That’s not good news for us.

 

My suggestion is, if it’s possible, start planning now for ways you might be able to avoid the traffic congestion. Avoid peak hour traffic, use alternate routes or buy a helicopter.

 

Ron Podboy - CenCON Liaison