With over 1,000 concerned residents attending in person or online, Douglas County held a town hall Thursday night to address concerns about the reconstruction on a major intersection on South University Boulevard.
Aimed to improve traffic flow, better accommodate bicyclists and increase safety and mobility, the $13 million project began in August 2023. It is at the junction of South University Boulevard/Lincoln Avenue and Quebec Street.
In early April, the county made the decision to compress the schedule for the project, looking to complete it in late summer, before school starts, instead of in the fall. To do that, lanes were reduced down to one in each direction and, as construction progresses, additional lanes will open.
But that has created some frustration for many drivers, who came to the town hall at Southridge Recreation Center in Highlands Ranch or participated online, to voice their concerns.
The biggest concern of the night is the large stream of cars that are cutting through nearby neighborhoods to avoid construction delays, many of them speeding. Another concern was the safety of drivers going through the intersection during construction.
An average of 32,000 cars go through the intersection each day and there have been 11 vehicle crashes in the area since the beginning of the year, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dan McMillan.
The sheriff’s office has set up speed trailers that produce data, such as peak traffic times, but residents wondered what the Sheriff’s Office is doing with that data.
County Traffic Division Manager Zeke Lynch said access signs were placed in neighborhoods to decrease the amount of traffic cutting through and speed signs were put up to give people an indication of how fast they were going.
However, the problem persists. Residents asked for interventions like temporary rubber stops or speed bumps saying current safety efforts are not working, some pointing to a lack of consequences.
“I understand you can’t stop them from coming through and the volume, I get that,” a member of the public said. “But the speed has got to be addressed.”
Lynch is also balancing the time it takes drivers to get through the intersection during construction. The traffic lights are on a three-minute cycle.
“Which is quite a bit longer,” said Lynch. “The idea behind doing that is to reduce the amount of lost time.”
Another factor is work time, which was expanded. Work starts at 7 a.m. and crews are given until 7 p.m., or 9 p.m. when necessary
Contractor, Villalobos Concrete, Inc. originally worked from 8: 30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., as the county’s commissioners thought it would be beneficial for drivers.
“But once we got started and heard the complaints and lived through it frankly, we decided we just needed to rip that bandaid off and get this project done,” said County Commissioner Lora Thomas.
The engineering of it all
As Highlands Ranch began building in the early 1980’s, engineering for roads was different. Steel and rebar were not used, as they are now.
“What we’re seeing in Highlands Ranch is, we’re just now reaching the point where roads need to be rebuilt,” Dan Roberts, assistant director of public works operations, said.
By the end of the project, there will be updated traffic signals and raised pedestrian safety islands, an additional westbound lane on Lincoln Avenue and University Boulevard, an additional eastbound lane on University Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue and an additional right-turn only lane on south Quebec Street to westbound University Avenue.
While some residents mentioned there has been construction in and around this intersection before, Roberts said they have made patches in the past and have been working on the current project for about three years.
The goal is to build an intersection that will last 40 or 50 years, Roberts added. The contractor is using reinforced concrete and that the new pavement is about 50% thicker than the original.
The county has been authorized to use a certain concrete for the middle of the intersection so that it can be driven on the next day. Roberts said drivers can expect the traffic movements to change almost daily.
“Generally what’s gonna happen is he’ll (the contractor) do like one lane, like a checkerboard, of one lane,” said Roberts.
The county encourages people to sign up for text updates by texting “QLUnews” to 21000. A text message will be sent every time there is a change. People can also visit https://rb.gy/d8l020 to stay up to date.
When questioned about their strategy, Roberts said they looked at several different alternatives, including working at night, but there were safety and noise concerns.
The entire intersection couldn’t be closed down all at once as it’s important to keep some of it open to allow for emergency vehicles to pass through, said Roberts. He also explained that working on each side of the intersection once at a time would have taken years and cost more due to construction inflation.
“It’s better to just get it done, go through the difficult period, and then have the improvement afterwards,” said County Commissioner George Teal.
With most of southbound Quebec to be open in the next couple of weeks, the majority of the main pavement will be in place by July 4.
“We just ask for your patience as we wrap this project up,” said Lynch.