About a third of the $115 million voter-approved bond package went toward street and alley repairs, Engineering Director Shawn Poe said at an Oct. 26 City Council meeting. The final portion of a six-year serial sale, totaling $13.3 million, is scheduled to be issued in 2021.
The city is already in the midst of planning for its next bond, which will also include improvements to streets and alleys. That bond election is tentatively scheduled for next November.
Custer Road project
The first project staff will tackle in the coming months is on Custer Road between Campbell and Arapaho roads. Among the goals of the project is to replace damaged street and sidewalk, improve drainage, lower vehicle speeds and improve safety for pedestrians.
The existing stretch of Custer is a four-lane undivided road with sidewalks. Staff is proposing the reduction of the road to one lane in each direction as well as the additions of a center turn lane and dedicated bike lanes on each side of the road.
The street would look slightly different at the intersection with Beverly Drive, which is directly across from Northrich Elementary School. In this area, the city would add a raised median and a pedestrian crosswalk signal to improve safety for students.
Neighborhood outreach is currently underway, Poe said. Transportation department staff plans to complete design and bid the project in June. Construction would begin in July 2021 and be set for completion in July 2022. The project is expected to cost $6.8 million.
West Prairie Creek Drive project
Also included in the 2015 bond are improvements to a stretch of West Prairie Creek Drive between Campbell and North Collins Boulevard. The goal is to replace damaged concrete, improve drainage, increase the line of sight for pedestrians and vehicles, and improve flow when cars are parked on the street, Poe said.
The current configuration is a 34-foot-wide, two-lane undivided roadway with sidewalk on the west side. The city is proposing an expansion by three feet of the portion between Fall Creek Drive to south of Collins. The project would also add four additional crosswalks with curb extensions to encourage people to cross at those points, Poe said.
The hope is that rightsizing the street will improve the flow of traffic and provide added safety for drivers and pedestrians, Poe said.
Staff is informing neighbors of the plans now. The project will be bid in June, and construction should begin in August; it will take one year to complete and cost roughly $8 million, Poe said.
Glenville Drive project
The final project will occur on Glenville Drive between Campbell and Commerce Street. This undertaking is different from the others in that it must comply with recommendations approved by council as part of the rezoning of the Collins-Arapaho Transit-Oriented Development and Innovation District, Poe said.
The current configuration of this stretch of Glenville is a four-lane undivided road with sidewalks on each side. Staff is proposing that the roadway be reduced to two lanes and that buffered bike lanes be added. There would be sidewalks on the opposite sides of the bike lanes, Poe said. The hope is that the project lowers vehicle speeds and promotes multimodal transit, he added.
Design of the project is scheduled to be complete by December 2021. The project would go out for bid in January 2022; construction would hopefully begin in February of that year and be complete in August 2023 at a cost $7.4 million.
