Next week, I will start a new position at the Regional Transportation District. I will join the FasTracks public information team as the manager for the Eagle P3 project. That’s the innovative public-private partnership initiative that will finance, design, build and operate the FasTracks commuter rail lines to Denver International Airport, Arvada-Wheat Ridge and south Westminster.

Kevin Flynn

And I had no trouble coming up with stories. Things are happening every day, and my goal was to bring you that wide range of stories, from the weightiest crises to the geekiest tales. I was sometimes amazed at the appetite out there for stories about “how stuff works.” Among the most popular stories was a slide show on the electronic gizmos mounted on poles along the highways, detailing what they are and what they do. And who knew I would bump into strangers on the street who remembered the story I did revealing how CDOT comes up with the letter-number designations it bolts to its bridges?

Let me leave you with a few thoughts.

Having an effective and efficient system of transportation infrastructure is simply vital to Colorado’s quality of life. That’s always been true, from the first gold-rush trails, to the transcontinental railroad connection, to the Valley Highway, to Denver International Airport, to FasTracks, to CDOT’s 28 Strategic Corridors.

But it’s rarely been more at stake than now, in the midst of this very serious recession.

I believe that investing now in modern, well-functioning transportation infrastructure will position Colorado to emerge more strongly from this downturn, and not just in the short term. Putting stimulus dollars into highway projects isn’t “make-work” for a few months. It’s building and improving the roads we need to support the timely and efficient movement of people, workers, goods and services that make this state’s economy work when the paving is done. The rate at which we emerge from this recession will be accelerated to the degree we have improved roads, transit and air service.

In some way or other, almost everything we do at work and at play, day in and day out, relies on transportation. Even if you never leave your house, your well-being still depends upon it. Without properly investing in maintaining what our predecessors have given us and in building what our descendants will need to rely on, we will be failing in our duty to pass on a better place. If Interstate 70 had dead-ended at the Mousetrap, as the original interstate highway plan envisioned in the 1950s, what would the state of commerce be on Colorado’s Western Slope? It took determined political leadership and consensus to push that highway up and under the Continental Divide and west toward our connection to Utah and ultimately to California.

To achieve this, it is essential that Colorado fixes the current patchwork system of funding transportation. The gas tax is broken. It’s a per-gallon levy, last raised in 1992, and long since succumbed to inflation. It can’t be raised again without a statewide TABOR vote, and good luck with that one. To keep fingers in the dike, our representatives have tried many different approaches over the last two decades. But we’ve ended up with an unreliable, unstable and unpredictable revenue package for transportation that defies good planning and scheduling.

I believe that it matters less whose plan or whose strategy for solving this dilemma wins out. What matters more is that it be resolved. Don’t get bogged down in the day to day obstacles to doing this work, but focus on the goal of having a well-functioning transportation system that serves this state’s needs and allows its citizens to have a good quality of life.

And that brings us to the November election, when you will decide on three ballot measures that would severely cripple the people’s ability to sustain good infrastructure investment in Colorado. Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61 are bad for you. Any one of them on its own is harmful enough. Together, they are a knock-out blow to Colorado’s ability to emerge from this bad economy in a competitive position to attract job growth and to maintain a good quality of life.

Imagine wanting to buy a house and being told you cannot get a 30-year mortgage. Cutting your paycheck in half while trying to pay your bills and provide for your family. In effect, this trio of ballot measures chokes the people’s government. If they had been in place at the time, T-REX would not have been built. Denver International Airport could not have been financed. Your neighborhood school’s budget would be sliced in half.

Specifically on transportation, Prop 101 arbitrarily slashes total auto registration fees to a flat $10, without any regard or thought as to what it costs for CDOT, your county road and bridge department or your city public works division to provide the highways, plowing and expansion you need. Why $10? Because that’s what the authors of the measure feel like paying. The figure bears no relationship to the reality of costs today. Simple anger at last year’s auto fee increase, which is earmarked for replacement of failing bridges and road safety projects, is driving this out-of-control measure.

Fans of the measure don’t even understand the problems. Several blogs have picked up a recent story in a publication called The Constitutionalist Today that goes on a tirade about the FASTER bill’s fee increase, but overstates it by double. It claimed FASTER increased registration fees AND added the bridge and road charges on top of that. False. FASTER increased total registration fees only by adding the bridge and road charges. Even with the new fees, the state is still behind in maintenance needs, without even getting to the need for capacity and mobility enhancement. Like being stuck in traffic? These ballot measures will severely restrict our ability to solve our transportation problems.

I want to extend my thanks to several people who have been of immense help to me in getting Inside Lane going. This site has steadily built a following of about 300 unique readers a day and was building a loyalty with more than 3,200 people who visited Inside Lane more than 100 times since I went live in August.

Foremost is my wife, Harriet Novak, who went out with me the Sunday after the Rocky Mountain News closed to help me take pictures and do interviews on the story I didn’t get to do in that last publication – Jim Moffet, the RTD driver who was injured helping an elderly woman across Federal Boulevard in the snow. The Colorado State Patrol had ticketed him for jaywalking, but I believed the ticket was bogus. It is not jaywalking to cross where Jim was crossing. The patrol voided the ticket but never acknowledged it was in error. I posted that story on our fledgling blog, I Want My Rocky.com, and it soon led to other writers posting news there.

That is what led eventually to Inside Lane. Harriet has been the most supportive and encouraging partner I could hope to have.

Steve Welchert, the political consultant, floated the name “Inside Lane” over coffee at Common Grounds, and a day later the PR guru Pete Webb suggested over lunch at Yia Yia’s that I brand it with my name because of my many years covering transportation at the News. Many thanks to them.

Steve Foster, an internet producer at the Rocky and the driving force behind I Want My Rocky and Rocky Mountain Independent.com, designed the original site and traffic sign logo, then worked with me through the redesign I launched in February that doubled my traffic. My new logo was designed by Angie Lee at Grindstone Graphics.

I owe the continued presence of Inside Lane to my major sponsor, Colorado Contractors Association, and its executive director, Tony Milo, and to the encouragement of MOVE Colorado and its executive director, Randy Harrison. Without their support, Inside Lane would have pulled over to the shoulder many months ago.

UInside Lane was founded on the idea that the public benefits from having a well-rounded knowledge of all aspects of our very important transportation infrastructure system, from how we pay for it, build it and use it to how we think about it and have fun with it.

There are a number of stories still in the pipeline that I didn’t get to do. Among them were pieces on the planning for reconstruction of the Wadsworth interchange on the Sixth Avenue Freeway in Lakewood, updates on the U.S. 36 corridors plans to leverage its stimulus grant into a larger federal loan to extend the car pool-bus-toll lane system toward Boulder, decisions on the Interstate 70 Mountain Corridor and an examination of cashless tolling’s potential to replace the gas tax entirely and overhaul our inadequate system for infrastructure funding.

And of course, continuing coverage of the debate and campaign over the three scorched-earth amendments on the fall ballot.

Also in the works was some more of the geeky stuff that proved popular among readers: How is Colorado going to change our license plate numbering now that we’re approaching the letter “Z” in the current three number-three letter configuration? A tour of Colorado’s various Scenic Byways during the “Staycation” season. A story on the true first transcontinental railroad link – in Strasburg, Colo., not in Utah. It was through Denver and Strasburg that you could first ride coast to coast in a single train when the Kansas Pacific drove the last spike at Comanche Creek in Strasburg in 1870. The Union Pacific mainline that gets all the publicity still had a gap at the Missouri River in Omaha, where until a bridge was completed in 1872, railroad passengers had to take a boat across the Missouri and change trains.

Until a decision is made on transferring this site to other management, the archives remain here for you to peruse.

As mentioned, I want to point you to some in particular.

Presenting information in an interactive way:
• Take a look at 124 poor-rated bridges on the state highway system that the FASTER bridge fee is earmarked to replacing. Check out the pictures, ratings, year of construction and where each bridge stands in the process.
• Metro Denver’s Habitual Freeway Bottlenecks and What’s Being Done About Them.
• CDOT’s Fall and Winter Construction Projects.

Many stories concentrated on projects or jobs that demonstrated an efficient use of public resources:
• One of the first ones was this piece on how Denver’s investment in fixing up the Sixth Avenue Viaduct saved taxpayers a lot more money in the long run.
• CDOT’s road swap with Montrose on U.S. 50 to save money for both.
• DIA’s system of solar energy to operate its jet fuel pumping operation.
• RTD piggybacks on another agency’s order to get more low-polluting buses.
• FasTracks plans to break off a segment of the I-225 light rail corridor for early construction.
• The G Line light rail would return when the FasTracks light rail corridor is completed.
• RTD’s refurbishing of the 16th Street Mall shuttles was done in-house and under budget.
• FasTracks’ recent drop in cost is partly attributable to efforts to trim the projects as much as feasible while maintaining the same end points.
• The Eagle P3 FasTracks project includes construction of an initial segment of the commuter rail corridor to Westminster.

The FASTER bill, which increased vehicle registration fees last year to help replace poor-rated bridges and carry out road safety projects, is now the target of a repeal attempt as part of Prop 101. I thought it was important for you to know, when you’re asked to plunk down an extra $9 or $18 to replace deteriorating bridges, just what that means. Among the stories Inside Lane did on FASTER:
• CDOT’s first year’s list of 17 bridges to replace included four old wooden bridges on a lonely highway out on the southeast plains. There used to be five wooden bridges. One burned out in the April 2008 Ordway grassfire, and two volunteer firefighters died when their truck plunged off the abutment while enroute to try to save the town.
• The Transportation Commission last year selected 17 candidate bridges for replacement with the first year’s FASTER revenue, and this story included a slide show of all 17 and an interactive locator map with their details. This kind of report is what I loved about doing Inside Lane.
• The commission then decided to take up the issue of issuing bonds backed by FASTER revenue in order to accelerate the replacement of poor-rated bridges.
• As the year went on, CDOT started to draw up long-term lists of road safety projects that FASTER would fund.
• The low bidder on the first FASTER bridge project was a Walsenburg contractor. This story included an interactive Google Street View image of the bridge.

Sidewalk plaque at 17th and Stout streets, the heart of downtown Denver. commemorates the 58-year-old all-walk phase known as the Barnes Dance. Inside Lane photo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

Save the last dance for me!

Denver, the city that popularized the pedestrian-friendly all-walk diagonal-crossing Barnes Dance, is considering phasing it out of the busy downtown grid as part of a larger evaluation of signal timing within the central business district.

Another Denver institution on the ropes? Could they leave the Barnes Dance, the cheeseburger and the ice cream soda in their native town and instead eliminate the Denver Boot?

“We have preliminary data from our consultant and we’re talking to stakeholders,” said Matt Wager, director of operations for traffic engineering services at Denver Public Works. “It’s a complex discussion.”

Pedestrians would still get “Walk” signals, but not the all-red diagonal crossing.

Wager said a decision is likely six months out. The “All Pedestrian Phase Study” is being done by Jacobs Engineering, while a larger retiming study of the downtown signal system, called the Downtown Denver Traffic Signal Retiming Study, is being done by Navjoy Consulting Services.
“We are taking a look at signal timing downtown and are evaluating not only pedestrians but bicycles, autos and transit,” Wager said. “We’re always evaluating signal timing downtown.”

In part, the retiming study is a response to RTD’s anticipated introduction of four-car light rail trains along Stout and California streets. The longer train consists – RTD now operates two- and three-car consists on the Central Corridor downtown – will require more all-red clearance at cross streets.

The so-called Barnes Dance refers to the inclusion of an all-red phase within the traffic signal cycle that stops vehicles on all approaches and allows pedestrians to freely cross, including diagonally. It’s called the Barnes Dance because it was brought to Denver by the city’s visionary first traffic engineer, Henry Barnes. He did not come up with it, but was the first to apply it in an entire downtown zone when it went live in 1952.

Henry Barnes, left, in Baltimore with traffic signal inventor Charles Adler, center, installing a plaque at the 1928 location of Adler's first signal. Photo from Signalfan.com

In his autobiography, “The Man with the Red and Green Eyes,” Barnes said he came up with the notion for the all-walk phase while dropping his daughter off at school and watching her try to cross the street with her friends. People trying to cross the street during breaks in traffic were playing games of chicken. In a presentation in Los Angeles to a meeting of the Institute of Traffic Engineers, Barnes told them:

“As things stood now, a downtown shopper needed a four-leaf clover, a voodoo charm, and a St. Christopher’s medal to make it in one piece from one curbstone to the other. As far as I was concerned – a traffic engineer with Methodist leanings – I didn’t think that the Almighty should be bothered with problems which we, ourselves, were capable of solving. Therefore, I was going to aid and abet prayers and benedictions with a practical scheme: Henceforth, the pedestrian – as far as Denver was concerned – was going to be blessed with a complete interval in the traffic signal cycle all his own. First of all, there would be the usual red and green signals for vehicular traffic. Let the cars have their way, moving straight through or making right turns. Then a red light for all vehicles while the pedestrians were given their own signal. In this interim, the street crossers could move directly or diagonally to their objectives, having free access to all four corners while all cars waited for a change of lights.”

Barnes acknowledged there were such intersections already using such a signal by the 1940s in Kansas City, Vancouver and a few other places. But Denver was where Barnes had them installed throughout the business district, where for the most part they remain in use today.

But downtown Denver has changed.

The 1982 debut of the 16th Street Mall into the traffic flow presented signal timing issues. To accommodate the transit shuttles, 16th was converted to two-way traffic from its former one-way function in the downtown grid. Engineers had to integrate efficient timing for RTD’s shuttle business going in both directions into a total 75-second cycle from green to green. Also, since the original Denver grid is platted on a 45-degree diagonal to north-south-east-west, the connections to East Denver and Golden Triangle streets east of Broadway and south of Colfax Avenue present timing issues.

Wager said Denver uses the mall shuttle movement as the starting point for setting all the other timings.

The diagonal crossing was dubbed the “Barnes Dance” after Denver Post city hall reporter John Buchanan wrote that, despite citizen and official apprehension in advance of its introduction, the innovative all-walk phase had pedestrians “dancing in the street.”

Barnes also oversaw the demise of the Denver Tramway’s 1950 conversion of the city’s extensive but aging streetcar lines to buses – having been quoted as saying he had no objection to streetcars except that they ran in the street.

Barnes departed Denver a year after introducing his dance and became traffic engineer in Baltimore, where he introduced computerized signal controls. He was hired to be New York City’s traffic commissioner in 1962 by Mayor Robert Wagner. Barnes used the all-walk phase in Manhattan, although only a few locations remain in use today.

He died of a heart attack on the job in New York in 1968, at the age of 61.

On a personal note, my own subconscious awareness of the Barnes Dance and downtown signal timing nearly got me whacked by a car when Denver altered signal timing with little fanfare years ago. While working at the Rocky Mountain News, I was in the habit of taking reading material with me when walking to appointments or lunch. The timing patterns had been inculcated into my brain for years: Named streets got the green light first, then the numbered streets, followed by the all-walk Barnes Dance.

One day, walking back to 400 W. Colfax from the Brown Palace, I stepped to the curb at Tremont Place and 17th Street, my nose in a book, looking to cross west toward 16th. When the last of the traffic zoomed past me on 17th, I started out into the street still reading, confident Henry Barnes had my back.

But I heard cars starting out from Tremont, including some making a left turn right into my path. I looked up to see a bumper coming at me, and jumped back.

I found out Denver traffic engineers had flipped the order of the signal phases east the mall. Numbered streets now went first, named streets second.

CO 96 wood timber bridge over draw in Kiowa County, 3.3 miles east of Crowley County line.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

A total of $25.3 million in state highway projects funded by the FASTER program is in CDOT’s pipeline, including replacement of four wooden bridges along a state highway where volunteer firefighters died in 2008 crossing where a fifth wooden bridge had been destroyed in a wildfire.

The 10 separate projects include $8.2 million in bridge replacements and $17.1 million in road safety work.

The list includes those under contract, those with bids already taken and those currently out for bids.

FASTER, which stands for Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery, was passed by the legislature last year. It represents the first new local funding to come in to state transportation projects in 19 years, since the gas tax was last increased. Some of FASTER’s revenue is allocated to cities and counties for local roads.

FASTER established two separate fees, earmarked to road safety projects and to replacement of the 124 poor-rated bridges on the state highway network.

The annual road safety fee is a sliding scale based on vehicle weight. Ranging from $16 for light vehicles to $39 for vehicles over eight tons, the owner of the average passenger car between one and two and a half tons would pay $23.

The bridge fee is also a sliding scale based on weight, and is being phased in over three years. Currently at $9 for the average passenger car, it will be $18 in two more years.

As a result, the owner of an average passenger car would pay $41 in 2011-12 between the two fees.

Among the bridges being replaced this year are four wooden structures on CO 96 in Crowley and Kiowa counties in southeast Colorado. It was on this corridor that a fifth wooden bridge west of Ordway burned in the grassfires of April 2008, and a fire truck from the Olney Springs volunteers rushing to help protect Ordway plunged over the abutment and into the Numa Drain Canal. Two firefighters died in the crash. The structures had been built in the 1930s and 1940s.

Here is the list of FASTER projects currently in the process of contracting:

FASTER Safety Projects

Under contract:
• I-70 between the Eisenhower Tunnel and Bakerville: Upgrades median barrier and resurfaces I-70. Asphalt Specialties, $2,955,811.15
• I-25 between approximately CO 392 and Harmony Road: Rubblizes and repairs failing concrete on I-25. Coulson Excavating, $9,384,771.55

Bids received:
• I-70 between Eisenhower Tunnel and Silverthorne: Installs electronic signage to manage truck speeds and the westbound runaway truck ramp. Sturgeon Electric, $577,954
• I-70 at Georgetown Hill: Installs electronic signage to warn motorists of slow moving or stopped traffic. Sturgeon Electric, $122,513
• US 285 between Bailey and Richmond Hill: Paves US 285 in asphalt, installs guardrail, improves lane transitions at the end of the existing climbing lanes and widens shoulders. LaFarge North American, dba LaFarge West Inc., $2,662,412.20

Currently under ad for bids:
• CO 93 at CO 170, Eldorado Springs: Upgrades the traffic signal at the intersection. Engineer’s estimate, $330,000
• CO 392 at Weld County Road 31: Installs a new traffic signal at the intersection. Engineer’s estimate, $300,000
• I-76 near Hudson: Installs median cable guardrail to help prevent crossover accidents.- Engineer’s estimate, $750,000

FASTER Bridge Projects
• CO 69 over Turkey Creek: Bridge replacement. Engineer’s estimate, $3 million
• CO 96 over Draw and Black Draw: Replaces four bridges. Engineer’s estimate, $5.2 million

The speed limit on South Santa Fe Drive is due for an increase from the unrealistic 45 mph to 55 mph between Iowa and Belleview avenues. Inside Lane photo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

The speed limit on South Santa Fe Drive’s expressway segment has long been under-posted at 45 mph. Most of the time outside rush hours, that seemed to be the slowest any driver went. Including the police.

But now, the Colorado Department of Transportation is expected to raise the limit to 55 mph, reflecting what the traffic already is safely doing.

The change would be in the 4½-mile segment between Iowa and Belleview avenues, passing through Denver, Englewood and Sheridan.

Drivers will benefit in at least two ways.

Many of them will no longer be caught in periodic ticket-writing sweeps of motorists who are driving the safe speed that the roadway and traffic allow.

Plus, they just might find it’s a safety improvement.

That’s right. Motorist safety tends to improve when traffic is moving along in a close range of speeds. People say speed kills, but more accurately, it’s differential in speed that kills. When posted speed limits are substantially less than the prevailing speed of traffic, the wider variation in speeds that result from some drivers observing the lower posted limit, mixing with those who are exceeding it, increases the chances of accidents.

Speed limit increase on South Santa Fe would be between Iowa and Belleview Avenues.

General practice says that speed limits should be set by measuring free-flowing traffic and determining the 85th percentile speed – the speed at or under which 85 percent of all drivers are traveling. Most of the vehicles tend to bunch around there. That number, rounded up to the closest multiple of 5, would be the speed limit.

Studies have shown that drivers tend to instinctively select the speed at which they feel safe and comfortable. Outliers who either intend to go faster or need to go slower are filtered out of the calculation by using the 85th percentile speed.

South Santa Fe has long been in need of change. Several years back, while commuting to work, I got in line behind Denver’s photo radar van when it pulled into traffic on Hampden Avenue at Sheridan after clicking automated ticket pictures of speeders there. I followed it off the exit at Santa Fe as it headed north toward downtown.

The photo radar van kept pulling away from me at 45, so I decided to keep pace with it. Just north of the Evans Avenue overpass – right where Denver sometimes still posts the speed van despite a state law that restricts where it can be used – the enforcement van topped out at 66 mph.

CDOT has actually found that a roadway’s average speed can be reduced when it raises the speed limit.

A speed limit that reflects what most traffic actually is doing prompts faster drivers to slow down because there is less need to pass slower traffic. That’s what happened when CDOT raised the limit on the Sixth Avenue Freeway in Lakewood in 2001 from 55 to 65 between Sheridan Boulevard and Interstate 70.

Data showed 85th percentile speeds dropped by up to 5 mph after the limit was raised. While up to nine percent of drivers had been going faster than 70 before the increase, no drivers during the survey were going that fast after the limit was raised.

CDOT has similarly raised the limits on Interstate 25 through the Denver Tech Center and on up to Evans Avenue, as well as on Interstate 225 between I-25 and Parker Road.

But the city of Boulder recently talked CDOT into lowering the speed limit on a mile and a half of U.S. 36 between Baseline Road and Foothills Parkway from 65 to 60. CDOT agreed to a three-year test period to see if it has an impact on safety.

According to CDOT, U.S. 36 carries 72,100 vehicles a day in that segment, and it has seen a significant increase in traffic volumes in the last few years. Over the last 10 years, CDOT said, there has been by a nine-percent increase in median barrier collisions.

That may actually have little to do with the speed limit increase, which took place almost 10 years ago as well, and more to do with the significant rise in total traffic. It would be difficult to attribute the cause of the increase in accidents to the speed limit without further analysis.

“Crash rates on this portion of U.S. 36 are not any different than other portions of US 36 or even similar types of highways, but we have seen an increase in median barrier collisions, which could be speed-related,” said CDOT Traffic Engineer Ina Zisman. “By lowering the speed limit for a three-year period, we can study the stretch and determine if speed is a factor and if the new speed limit has helped reduce median barrier collisions.”

To the extent that it fosters wider variations in motorist speeds, it may actually decrease safety.

One of Boulder’s concerns is highway noise in adjacent neighborhoods, and slower speeds produce less noise. But noise walls are usually the way to address that concern. Instituting a lower speed limit on a roadway on which prevailing speeds are higher is likely to foster widespread driver disregard of the lower limit and potentially decrease safety.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

With warmer weather to help it along, construction progress on the West Corridor light rail project is ramping up on all three areas into which it’s been divided.

The work may be most visible along the Sixth Avenue Freeway, where a dramatic steel arch bridge will be rolled out over the roadway during a full weekend closure in two weeks and a long curving bridge is winding its way over the Indiana Street interchange. Denver Transit Construction Group and its major subcontractors have almost all of the bridge structures underway.

RTD’s West Corridor is the first new FasTracks rail corridor to go to full construction.

Reprinted below is a report on construction progress given to the RTD board by General Manager Phil Washington on April 2:

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE – AREA 1 (Jeffco Government Center to Federal Center)
• Work on walls and drainage continues near I-70.
• Light rail bridge construction (pouring piers, footing work, and deck pours) is taking place on both sides of Indiana Street at 6th Avenue. Crews have stripped the wood forms from the north side of the bridge to expose the concrete setting of the bridge and begin the post-tensioning process between two spans of the bridge. The wood forms have been placed on the south side to begin pouring there.
• Crews continue working on the bridge over Colfax, they anticipate pouring the deck of the bridge within the next two weeks.
• Ulysses Street in Golden is closed from 6th Avenue north to Mt. Vernon Road to raise the street and install retaining walls. Improvements to the Lena Gulch on Ulysses at 6th Avenue will be winding down soon. Retaining wall construction could begin within the next few weeks.
• Work at the Jefferson County Government Center including excavation and retaining wall construction has begun. The current bike path has been detoured down Johnson Road to Jefferson County Parkway.
• Wall construction on the south side of 6th Avenue west of Simms/Union is near completion. Excavation and wall construction on the north side of 6th Avenue from Indiana to Colfax is on-going.
• Crews will begin removing trees and vegetation from the northwest corner of the Cold Springs park-n-Ride in preparation for the Simms/Union light rail tunnel.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE – AREA 2 (East of the Federal Center to Sheridan)
• Work continues on the Wadsworth Bridge, crews are working on the formwork for the deck of the bridge.
• The post-tensioning of the cables on the arch of the 6th Avenue Bridge has been completed. Crews are currently stripping the formwork on the south side of the bridge, with the rollout of the bridge scheduled for April 23-25.
• Work on a drainage culvert on Collins Avenue north of 6th Avenue and east of Simms is near completion.
• Work continues on a drainage system on 13th Avenue from Zephyr to Carr Street. Crews are paving 13th Avenue between Wadsworth and Allison this week, local access is allowed. Weather pending, Allison is scheduled to be open next week.
• The encasement of the Rocky Mountain Ditch on 13th Avenue between Carr and Cody is ongoing. During this work, 13th Avenue will be closed from Carr – Dudley, local access will be allowed. Upon completion, crews will begin working on additional drainage improvements from Cody – Holland. 13th Avenue will remain closed to through traffic for this operation.
• Construction of the approach walls to the Wadsworth Bridge on the east side of Wadsworth is on-going and 13th Avenue between Wadsworth and Teller is now closed. Local access is allowed.
• Tree removal will begin on Monday, April 5 on the south side of 13th Avenue in the RTD right-of-way between Garrison and Dudley Street in preparation for the extension of the drainage system along 13th Avenue.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE – AREA 3 (East of Sheridan to the Auraria Campus)
• Crews continue working on drainage improvements and drop structures in the Denver Parks Dry Gulch area.
• Relocation of utilities continues during the first phase of construction of the Federal Blvd. Bridge. Federal Boulevard has been phased down to two lanes in each direction, eliminating the left turn lane to Holden Place and left turns from Holden Place to Federal Boulevard. Traffic control is in place on Federal Boulevard between 10th Avenue- Howard Place. The pedestrian bridge over the gulch at Hazel Court is now open and the west side sidewalks of Federal have been closed down. Permanent fencing will be installed next week.
• Demolition of the properties west of Sheridan and south of the gulch are near completion.
• Work continues on the Sheridan Bridge.
• Crews have begun to weld rail for the trackway just west of I-25.
• Crews are grading the area and pouring sidewalks and bus bays in preparation of paving Knox Court. Knox Court should re-open by the third week of April.

General
• Environmental inspections and abatement of acquired properties continue.
• Right-of-way acquisition for the project continues.

The steel arch light rail bridge over Sixth Avenue Freeway will be rolled over the roadway in two weeks. Inside Lane photo.

Hamon Contractors is building the middle segment of the new 104th Avenue bridge in Northglenn, replacing an original I-25 bridge from 1962. CDOT photo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

More than $390 million in road construction projects on state highways will be underway this year in the metro Denver area, with more than a third of the total funded by the federal stimulus program.

The activity is spread across 32 projects in the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Region 6, which covers much of the Denver area with the exception of Boulder and Douglas County south of Highlands Ranch. It includes projects CDOT is doing plus several city projects in Denver and Aurora on state highways that CDOT is overseeing.

CDOT’s Region 6 staff led by Region Director Reza Akhavan outlined the projects in a briefing that brought to light some of the savings achieved recently in bidding results that allowed budgeted funds to be plowed back into additional work.

“This will be keeping us very busy this year,” Akhavan said.

CDOT aerial photo shows grading work at the 120th Avenue Connection project over US 36, looking southwest.

Foremost was savings in the $23.3 million 120th Avenue Connection project in Broomfield, which is providing a straight-across link west-to-east from CO 128 to 120th Avenue to allow traffic to bypass the busy Wadsworth/Midway Boulevard interchange with U.S. 36. Inside Lane wrote about this project when ground was broken, and at the time, CDOT didn’t have funding to start the second phase that would include the tie-ins on the east side with 120th.

Now, says CDOT Region 6 North Program Engineer John Schwab, savings achieved through the design-build contracting process used by CDOT and the contractor partnership of Edward Kraemer & Sons and HNTB will allow CDOT to begin design work on that second phase, as well as right-of-way acquisition. The hefty construction costs for that phase, estimated up to $40 million, means the rest will have to wait for more funding.

They projects range from the inexpensive– such as a $180,000 paint restriping of Parker Road between Hampden and Belleview Avenues to fit in third lanes in each direction, a small price to squeeze out extra traffic capacity on the busy corridor, and $500,000 for a wildlife fence along U.S. 6 between Heritage Road and 19th Street in Golden – to several in the $30 million and $40 million class.

Because of the lead time to get stimulus-funded projects underway, there are many projects this construction season that are being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. They include the $47.2 construction of a new Central Park Boulevard interchange on Interstate 70 by SEMA Construction to provide better access to Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood and commercial area, the $17.9 million addition of a 17th Avenue interchange on Interstate 225 by Hamon Contractors to ease traffic flows into the Fitzsimons medical campus in Aurora, the $36.9 million replacement of the Alameda bridge over I-25 in Denver by Jalisco International and a new $32 million flyover ramp for southbound Santa Fe Drive to eastbound C-470 by Edward Kraemer and Sons in Littleton.

CDOT also will be starting up projects funded by the new revenue from the FASTER program’s vehicle registration fee hikes. They include new signals, auxiliary lane and realignment of the roadway geometry at the hazardous intersection of CO 7 and York Street in Adams County, more median cable guards on C-470 to prevent crossover head-on crashes and concrete median barrier on South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton.

“While a few large Recovery Act projects are still underway, there are many projects that are just starting that will greatly improve safety and mobility on our highway system,” said CDOT Executive Director Russell George. “Specifically, there will be several critical bridge and safety projects as a result of FASTER.”

Use this map of CDOT’s Region 6 — most of the Denver Metro area — along with the project descriptions below to see where these projects are located. I have put all 32 projects below with details on cost, schedule, work hours and project scope, along with pictures from many of them:

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Metro Denver CDOT Projects Spring-Summer 2010
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North Area (North Program Engineer John Schwab)
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Edward Kraemer and Sons has placed girders at the new 120th Avenue bridge over US 36 has girders and will soon install bridge decking. CDOT photo.

Cost: $23.3 million

Contractor: Edward Kraemer and Sons, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Yet to be determined

Work: Constructs a new six-lane road across US 36 to connect 120th Avenue and State Highway 128 in Broomfield in order to provide greater connectivity to US 36 and local roadways. This project will construct two of the three phases needed to complete the entire project. As part of this project, a new bridge over US 36 will be constructed as well as a new bridge over Commerce Street. Several local roads such as Commerce Street, Old Wadsworth Boulevard and 118th Avenue will be realigned to correspond with the new roadway. The RTD park-n-Ride facility at Wadsworth Parkway will be relocated near the Broomfield Event Center. Currently, motorists in the Broomfield area can only cross US 36 at Wadsworth Parkway. Due to the lack of continuity with State Highway 128 and 120th Avenue, the US 36/Wadsworth Parkway interchange is heavily congested and State Highway 128 and 120th Avenue are operating at capacity during peak hours. Traffic forecasts indicate at least a doubling in traffic over the next 20 years. The new 120th Avenue Connection will provide relief on these major corridors by improving connectivity, safety and mobility.

Update: To date, crews have conducted embankment work on 120th Avenue and have begun bridge construction over US 36. Girders and bridge deck panels have been installed for the new bridge over US 36.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with double lane closures from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: September 2009 through October 2010
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Hamon Contractors is working on the middle segment of the new 104th Avenue bridge over I-25 in Northglenn. CDOT photo.

2. 104th Avenue over I-25

Cost: $6.5 million

Contractor: Hamon Contractors, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Yet to be determined

Work: Replaces the 104th Avenue bridge over I-25, which was originally constructed in 1962 and is one of Colorado’s structurally deficient bridges. The new bridge will be wider to accommodate an additional left turn lane from eastbound 104th Avenue to northbound I-25.

Update: The new bridge is being constructed in three phases with work beginning on the northern portion. Currently, crews have completed the northern and middle portions of the new bridge and work will begin on the southern portion towards the end of April.

Work Hours:
I-25: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with double lane closures from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. There will be occasional full closures of I-25 for girder installation, deck panel installation and bridge deck concrete pours.
104th Avenue: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with double lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. There will always one lane open in each direction.

Duration: May 2009 through January 2011
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The original 80th Avenue bridge over U.S. 36 was built in 1951 as part of the Denver-Boulder Turnpike. Structures Inc. will build the replacement. CDOT photo.

Cost: $7 million

Contractor: Structures, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Yet to be determined

Work: Replaces the 80th Avenue bridge over US 36, which was originally constructed in 1951 and is one of Colorado’s structurally deficient bridges. When complete, the bridge will be wider to accommodate an additional left turn lane from 80th Avenue to Oakwood Drive and a wider sidewalk. The project also realigns 80th Avenue to the east to improve sight distance, access and traffic flow. The improvements will accommodate the future widening of US 36 as determined through the US 36 Environmental Impact Statement.

Work Hours:
US 36: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. There will be occasional full closures of US 36 for girder installation, bridge deck panel installation and bridge deck concrete pours.
80th Avenue: 80th Avenue will be closed for the duration of the project and a detour route will be in place which takes motorists to either 92nd Avenue on the north or 72nd Avenue on the south.

Duration: May 2010 through May 2011
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SEMA Construction crews are nearing completion on new I-76 bridges over the South Platte River and CO 224 in Adams County. CDOT photo.

4. I-76 over State Highway 224 and I-76 over the Union Pacific Railroad

Cost: $11 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: SEMA Construction, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Jake Koenig

Work: Replaces the existing I-76 structures over State Highway 224 and the Union Pacific Railroad, which were both originally built in 1967 and are two of Colorado’s structurally deficient bridges. In addition, the project will construct a crash wall for the I-76 structure over the Union Pacific Railroad as well for the State Highway 224 structure over the Union Pacific Railroad. The crash walls protect the bridge supports in case of a train derailment and are needed for the future North Metro FasTracks line. RTD is funding the design and construction of both walls.

Update: The bridges are being constructed in three phases as to not disrupt traffic. Currently, crews have completed the westbound and middle portions of the new bridges and are working on the eastbound portion. Girders have been installed for the final portion and crews will pour the bridge deck in late April.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with occasional night work.

Duration: June 2009 through July 2010
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The new CO 7 bridge being built by Zak Dirt Inc. over the South Platte River in Brighton is nearly complete. CDOT photo.

5. State Highway 7 over the Platte River

Cost: $3.6 million

Contractor: Zak Dirt, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Jake Koenig

Work: Replaces the existing State Highway 7 structure over the Platte River with a new structure and replaces the existing bridge over the McCann Ditch with a new concrete box culvert. The State Highway 7 bridge over Platte River was originally constructed in 1967 and is one of Colorado’s structurally deficient bridges.

Update: To date, crews have completed two thirds of the new bridge and will have the final one third complete by the end of April. In May, crews will pave State Highway 7 in asphalt through the construction zone.

Work Hours: State Highway 7 is in a temporary alignment with traffic shifted to the south, but all lanes are open in each direction. Occasional night work will take place Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: June 2009 through June 2010
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6. 96th Avenue at I-76

Cost: $4.1 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Castle Rock Construction Co.

Resident Engineer: Jake Koenig

Work: Constructs roundabouts at the on and off-ramps at the interchange of 96th Avenue and I-76 to improve safety and mobility.

Update: The majority of the work is now complete, but crews are finishing work in the southeast quadrant of the roundabouts.

Work Hours: Single-lane alternating traffic on 96th Avenue Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The ramp from eastbound I-76 to 96th Avenue is closed as well as the southeast service road.

Duration: May 2009 through April 2010
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7. US 6 over Lakewood Gulch

Cost: $1.1 million

Contractor: Hamon Contractors, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Yet to be determined

Work: Repairs bridges at three locations in the Denver metro area. The work includes cleaning and repairing the culvert at US 6 over Lakewood Gulch; removing deteriorating concrete and patching at Quebec Street over Sand Creek; and replacing expansion joints on I-70 over I-25.

Update: The work on US 6 over Lakewood Gulch and Quebec Street over Sand Creek is complete. Crews will begin repairs at I-70 over I-25 in May once the expansion joints have been fabricated.

Work Hours: Single lane closures from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.

Duration: February 2010 through June 2010
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8. Colorado Boulevard (State Highway 2) – 62nd Avenue to Quebec Street

Cost: $3.2 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: LaFarge North America, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Bill McDonnell

Work: Resurfaces 2.4 miles of Colorado Boulevard in asphalt and upgrades traffic signals.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Duration: May 2010 through September 2010
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9. US 85 at 144th Avenue

Cost: $800,000 (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Bill McDonnell

Work: Constructs raised traffic islands on 144th Avenue to prohibit traffic in both directions of 144th Avenue from making left turns onto US 85 and also from crossing over US 85. Improvements will also be made to the left turn lanes on US 85.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. with occasional night work.

Duration: May 2010 through June 2010
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10. State Highway 128 – McCaslin Boulevard to Eldorado Boulevard

Cost: $1.4 (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Bill McDonnell

Work: Rotomills and resurfaces approximately one mile of SH 128 in asphalt

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with occasional night work.

Duration: August 2010 through September 2010
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Central Area (Central Program Engineer Jim Bemelen)
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11. I-70 at Ward Road

Cost: $8.5 million

Contractor: Asphalt Paving, Co.

Resident Engineer: Ed Martinez

Work: Reconstructs the eastbound I-70 exit ramps at 44th Avenue/Ward Road by moving the ramps east a quarter of a mile from their current location in order to increase merge distance. The north side of 44th Avenue will also be widened to accommodate two left turn lanes from eastbound 44th Avenue to I-70 as well as one full continuous merge lane on 44th Avenue between the I-70 off-ramp and Ward Road. Following the completion of interchange work, I-70 between Colfax Avenue and Kipling Street will be rotomilled and paved in asphalt.

Work Hours:
I-70: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m with double lane closures from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
44th Avenue: Lane closures Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. At least two left turn lanes from 44th Avenue to eastbound I-70 must remain open at all times as well as at least one lane of eastbound and westbound 44th Avenue.

Duration: January 2010 through June 2011
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12. I-70 – Colorado Boulevard to Monaco Street

Cost: $5 million (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Ed Martinez

Work: Replaces concrete barrier along I-70, constructs a new crash wall on Colorado Boulevard under I-70 and installs several new permanent sign structures.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with double lane closures from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Duration: June 2010 through October 2010
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13. I-70 – Brighton Boulevard (State Highway 265) to Colorado Boulevard (State Highway 2)

Cost: $21.7 million

Contractor: American Civil Constructors, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Tony Stewart

Work: Repairs or replaces 60 expansion joints on the I-70 viaduct, which is over 40 years old. The project also reconstructs the median to improve drainage and replaces the bridge rail. In all, 64 expansion joints will be repaired or replaced on the viaduct between two projects. The first project, which was completed in 2006, repaired or replaced four expansion joints. This work will help extend the life of this aging structure, which was originally constructed in 1964.

Update: To date, crews have completed the majority of the expansion joint work between Brighton Boulevard and Vasquez Boulevard and have just started work between Vasquez Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard.

Work hours:
I-70: Single lane closures Sunday through Saturday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with double lane closures from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
46th Avenue: Various segments of eastbound or westbound 46th Avenue will be closed based on the location of the work on I-70.

Duration: September 2008 through May 2011
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14. Colorado Boulevard (State Highway 2) – Alameda Avenue to Martin Luther King Boulevard

Cost: $3.8 million

Contractor: LaFarge West, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Tony Stewart

Work: Resurfaces approximately 3.5 miles of Colorado Boulevard in asphalt, reconstructs the median and curb ramps. The traffic signals will be upgraded and turn lanes will be improved at the Colorado Boulevard/Colfax Avenue; Colorado Boulevard/17th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard/Montview Boulevard intersections.

Work hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Duration: May 2010 through October 2010
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15. I-70 at Central Park Boulevard

Cost: $47.2 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: SEMA Construction, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Tony Stewart

Work: Constructs a full interchange at I-70 and Central Park Boulevard which is between Havana Street and Quebec Street. The project will construct all ramps and structures for eastbound and westbound I-70 and for Central Park Boulevard. I-70 between Sand Creek and Havana Street will also be paved in asphalt. This project is being funded by the City and County of Denver with CDOT oversight.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with double lane closures from 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Occasional weekend work is possible.

Duration: June 2010 through Spring 2011
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16. US 287 from 10th Avenue to Baseline Road (State Highway 7)

Cost: $5.9 million (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Randy Furst

Work: Replaces approximately 230 concrete slabs, rotomills and paves two bridges on US 287 and conducts erosion control work on the east side of US 287.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Duration: May 2010 through December 2010
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17. Federal Boulevard (US 287) at 120th Avenue (State Highway 128)
Sheridan Boulevard (State Highway 95) – 52nd Avenue to 56th Avenue

Cost: $664,000

Contractor: K.E.C.I Colorado, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Randy Furst

Work: Upgrades the traffic signals at both locations to include mast arm poles and LED lights. A raised median will also be installed on Sheridan Avenue between 52nd Avenue and 56th Avenue to improve safety

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Duration: March 2010 through June 2010
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South Area (South Program Engineer Paul Jesaitis)
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Structures Inc. has excavation underway for the widening of Arapahoe Road under I-25. CDOT photo.

Cost: $2.4 million

Contractor: Structures, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Abe Lavassani

Work: Adds an additional through lane in each direction by placing the new lanes where the existing on-ramp lanes exist. This means that the third lane will be separated from the existing through lanes by the pier columns. In addition, a turn lane on westbound Arapahoe Road between the southbound I-25 off-ramp and Yosemite Street will be added and the center median will be modified to accommodate the new configuration.

Update: The majority of the work has been completed, but median work and paving remain. Over the next couple of months, crews will remove the medians on eastbound and westbound Arapahoe Road, pave the additional lane from southbound I-25 to westbound Arapahoe Road, complete asphalt paving through the construction zone and complete landscaping.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. There will be occasional weekend work.

Duration: September 2009 through June 2010
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19. Southbound I-25 to I-225
Parker Road (State Highway 83) to Southbound I-225

Cost: $1.5 million

Contractor: ABCO Construction, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Abe Lavassani

Work: Installs an anti-icing treatment on the ramps from southbound I-25 to northbound I-225 and northbound Parker Road to southbound I-225 to improve traction. Automatic anti-icing systems will also be installed on the ramp from southbound I-25 to northbound I-225 and from southbound I-225 to southbound I-25.

Update: The traction material has been installed on the ramp from southbound I-25 to northbound I-225 and on one lane of the ramp from northbound Parker Road to southbound I-225. Crews will likely return in May to complete the paving on the second lane of the northbound Parker Road to southbound I-225 ramp. Crews will be wrapping up the installation of the two anti-icing systems in the next couple of weeks.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. on Monday.

Duration: October 2009 through June 2010
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20. Parker Road (State Highway 83) at Arapahoe Road (State Highway 88)

Cost: $30 million (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Abe Lavassani

Work: The final phase of this interchange improvement project constructs a grade-separated interchange and the corresponding ramps and improves drainage. When complete, Parker Road will run over Arapahoe Road and the traffic signal will be removed for free-flowing traffic at the interchange.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Throughout construction, Parker Road or Arapahoe Road may be placed in a temporary alignment.

Duration: May 2010 through December 2011
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21. I-225 at Colfax Avenue (US 40)- Phase I

Cost: $1.4 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Concrete Works of Colorado

Resident Engineer: Rick Erjavec

Work: This is the first phase of an interchange improvement project. This phase will reconstruct the southbound I-225 off-ramp to Colfax Avenue as well as the northbound I-225 on-ramp from Colfax Avenue. Drainage improvements will also be made. The City of Aurora will construct this phase with CDOT oversight.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: November 2009 through April 2010
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22. I-225 at Colfax Avenue (US 40)- Phase 2

Cost: $17.9 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Hamon Contractors, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Rick Erjavec

Work: The second phase of the interchange improvement project will construct the southbound off-ramp to 17th Avenue and Colfax Avenue along with the southern portion of 17th Avenue to serve inbound traffic. The City of Aurora will construct this phase with CDOT oversight.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: April 2010 through December 2011
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23. I-225 – 2nd Avenue to Mississippi Avenue

Cost: $33 million (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Rick Erjavec

Work: Widens I-225 between 2nd Avenue and Mississippi Avenue to accommodate three lanes in each direction with an additional auxiliary lane. I-225 from north of Colfax Avenue to 2nd Avenue will be restriped to also accommodate three lanes in each direction. A new 8-10 foot concrete noise wall will be constructed near Mississippi Avenue to replace the deteriorating wooden fence and a new 8-10 foot noise wall will be constructed near Potomac Circle.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: June 2010 through August 2011
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Castle Rock Construction crews continue to work on rehabilitation of the C-470 roadway. CDOT photo.

24. C-470 – I-25 to Santa Fe Drive (US 85)
C-470 Bike Trail – I-25 to I-70

Cost: $32 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Castle Rock Construction Co.

Resident Engineer: Ron Buck

Work: Repairs or replaces concrete slabs along nine miles of C-470 and resurfaces C-470 in asphalt. Rehabilitates and replaces concrete slabs on the C-470 bicycle/pedestrian trail.

Update: To date, the concrete repairs are complete on westbound C-470 and the majority of eastbound C-470. Crews will complete the concrete work on eastbound C-470 in the coming months and then begin asphalt paving on both eastbound and westbound C-470. Bike path work is also still underway.

Work Hours: The majority of the roadway work on C-470 will take place from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday each weekend. Single lane closures are also possible Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Work on the bike path will take place Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Duration: July 2009 through September 2010
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The 1958 Valley Highway bridge over Alameda Avenue -- and the flash flooding that often occurs underneath it -- will be things of the past with a replacement project now getting underway by Jalisco International. CDOT photo.

25. I-25 at Alameda Avenue

Cost: $36.9 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Jalisco International, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Ron Buck

Work: Replaces the Alameda Avenue bridge over I-25 with one that is wider to accommodate an additional lane in each direction. Minor improvements will also be made to I-25 under Alameda Avenue and drainage will be improved. This work is part of a larger project that will eventually improve I-25 as determined in the I-25 Valley Highway Environmental Impact Statement.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. with occasional weekend work.

Duration: April 2010 through September 2011
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26. Santa Fe Drive (US 85) at C-470

Cost: $32 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Ron Buck

Work: Constructs a flyover ramp from southbound Santa Fe Drive to eastbound C-470 to improve safety and mobility.

Work Hours:
Santa Fe Drive: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
C-470: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Full closures of C-470 will also be required for girder installation, bridge deck panel installation and concrete deck pour.

Duration: June 2010 through January 2012
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27. I-25 – 6th Avenue to 23rd Avenue

Cost: $4.3 million (ARRA project)

Contractor: Brannan Sand and Gravel Co.

Resident Engineer: Tony Gross

Work: Rotomills and resurfaces approximately three miles of I-25 in asphalt.

Update: The majority of work is complete, but crews need to complete some smoothness grinding and some erosion control work.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Duration: June 2009 through April 2010
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Concrete Express crews excavate for new bridge pier footings at the Hampden Avenue bridge over Federal Boulevard. CDOT photo.

28. Hampden Avenue (US 285) -Kipling Street to Federal Boulevard

Cost: $40.1 million

Contractor: Concrete Express, Inc.

Resident Engineer: Tony Gross

Work: Replaces the Wadsworth Boulevard (State Highway 121), Pierce Street and Federal Boulevard (State Highway 88) bridges over Hampden Avenue and reconstructs Hampden Avenue between Wadsworth Boulevard and Federal Boulevard.

Update: Construction started near Federal Boulevard with crews realigning Hampden Avenue to accommodate reconstruction in the median. In late April/early May, construction will begin to replace the Hampden Avenue bridge over Federal Boulevard. Construction will continue to move west as work progresses.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Full closures of Hampden Avenue will also be required for girder installation, bridge deck panel installation and concrete deck pour.

Duration: January 2010 through June 2011

Region 6 Traffic Engineering Projects (Traffic Engineer Steve Hersey)
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29. State Highway 7 at York Street

Cost: $750,000 (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Jake Koenig

Work: Adds an auxiliary lane on State Highway 7 from 168th Avenue to York Street and installs a new traffic signal at the SH 7/York Street intersection.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Duration: June 2010 through November 2010
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30. C-470 – Quebec Street to I-25
C-470 – Morrison Road to Wadsworth Boulevard
Santa Fe Drive (US 85)- Aspen Grove Way to Ridge Road

Cost: $3.3 million (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Leela Rajasekar

Work: Installs median cable guardrail in two locations along C-470 to help prevent crossover accidents. Concrete median barrier will also be installed on Santa Fe Drive.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Duration: June 2010 through February 2011
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31. US 6 – Heritage Road to 19th Avenue

Cost: $500,000 (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Leela Rajasekar

Work: Installs a wildlife fence along US 6 to help prevent wildlife/vehicle collisions.

Work Hours: Single lane closures Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through
Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: August 2010 through November 2010
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32. Parker Road (State Highway 83) – Belleview Avenue to Hampden Avenue

Cost: $180,000 (estimate)

Contractor: Yet to be determined

Resident Engineer: Alazar Tesfaye

Work: Restripes Parker Road to accommodate a third through lane in each direction.

Work Hours: Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Duration: May 2010 through June 2010

Colorado Senate Scheduled to Vote on Highway Robbery

By a vote of 38 to 27, the Colorado House of Representatives voted on April 2 to approve HB 10-1387, which seeks to annually divert approximately $20 million ̶ $200 million over the coming decade ̶ away from the Highway User Tax Fund (HUTF), which pays for bridge and highway repairs, to the Department of Revenue for administering/issuing driver’s licenses and associated examinations, renewals, permits, and State identification cards.

The Colorado Senate is scheduled to debate the bill on Second Reading tomorrow, Thursday, April 8, on the Senate floor.

“When legislators and Governor Ritter approved last year’s vehicle registration fee increase (SB 09-108 or the so-called “FASTER” bill), they did so recognizing that the State of Colorado owns $500 million in annual unfunded deferred maintenance backlog. That vehicle registration fee increase is a vital step toward repairing the State’s 128 structurally-deficient bridges and hundreds of miles of deteriorating highways,” said Colorado Contractors Association Executive Director Tony Milo.

“How do the Governor and those who voted for FASTER honestly tell their constituents that the number of structurally-deficient bridges and poor highways required a vehicle registration fees increase last year, but then turnaround this year and divert tens of millions away from those same structurally-deficient bridges and high-priority highway projects,” Milo continued. “Do legislators really believe the public and media will endorse diverting $20 million per year ̶ $200 million over the next decade ̶ away from road and bridge projects after they just approved FASTER? It’s fiscally reckless and wholly unnecessary,” said Milo.

“We respectfully, but in the strongest possible terms, urge every Senator and Governor Ritter to reject HB10-1387,” Milo concluded. “Approving that bill in any form will exacerbate Colorado’s challenges in addressing the state’s structurally-deficient bridge and highway maintenance.”

Ft.Collins/Loveland Airport Manager Named CDOT Aeronautics Division Director

David Gordon, manager of the Ft. Collins/Loveland Municipal Airport, has been named Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Aeronautics Division Director. His appointment is effective April 9.

Gordon has worked in the aviation sector for the past 35 years. He served for 24 years as manager of the Jefferson County Airport in Broomfield, and since 2002 he has been manager at the Loveland/Ft. Collins airport.

Gordon is very familiar with the CDOT Division of Aeronautics and its many programs. He was appointed by Colorado Governor Roy Romer to the Colorado Aeronautical Board, which oversees the CDOT Aeronautics Division, where he served from 1996-1999. He was a founding director and served on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Airport Operators Association.

In his new position, Gordon will manage seven CDOT staff members who work directly with Colorado public-use airports as well as Colorado and national aviation associations to help improve aviation safety and operations.

The CDOT Aeronautics Division also oversees an annual discretionary grants program that awards revenues from aviation fuel sales taxes to Colorado public use airports for infrastructure, safety, and programmatic improvements. The most recent round of these grants, announced in February, 2010, awarded $5.7 million for nearly 50 Colorado airport projects. The funds were used to leverage local and federal funding for a total value of nearly $96 million.

US 36 Corridor - The final span of the pedestrian bridge was set in January 2010 over U.S. 36 requiring an overnight closure of Westbound U.S. 36.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com
(Note: Inside Lane is back with live transportation news this week after the entire staff — one — returned from a vacation)

A new poll shows that metro Denver voters are almost evenly split on whether to approve a second sales tax hike for RTD’s FasTracks program, but that some of the counties with the most to gain from it are the most strongly opposed.

The poll done by The Kenney Group for the Coalition for Smart Transit – a non-profit partnership of business, civic, labor and environmental groups that is testing the waters for public support of FasTracks – found 50 percent of voters support and 48 percent oppose a second four-tenths of a cent tax sales tax increase to enable RTD to complete FasTracks on the original 2017 schedule. Three percent were undecided.

The results of the poll run counter to concerns expressed by some politicians in the north metro area that counties already served by RTD’s rail system would be reluctant to support a second four-tenths of a cent sales tax – double the existing tax voters approved in 2004.

It is in the north metro area, where the extra tax is needed to complete the FasTracks rapid transit corridors on the original schedule, that the poll shows the most opposition – specifically in Adams and Broomfield counties.

The poll showed only 30 percent of Broomfield voters support a tax increase, while 50 percent oppose it. In Adams County, 40 percent supported the increase while 60 percent opposed it.

But conversely, support was strong in areas already served by light rail. That seems to challenge the concerns expressed by north metro officials, including those in the North Area Transportation Alliance, that voters in parts of the metro area that already have rail transit would be reluctant to pay more tax to expand it elsewhere.

Actually, some political consultants believe that voters in areas already served by rail transit are more likely to support expansion because more of them use it, and expanding it gives them more options, including eventual rail transit to Denver International Airport, Boulder and the Fitzsimons Medical Campus in Aurora.

Even so, the poll doesn’t portend well for RTD. At a nearly even split metrowide, and with conventional wisdom holding that support generally slips in a contested campaign, RTD’s elected board of directors expects to decide next week whether to go to voters this fall with a tax increase question.

The Coalition for Smart Transit last week briefed board members on the poll. It was based on a phone survey between March 23 and 27 of 400 likely voters. It asked numerous questions on other TRTD and FasTracks issues and compared those results with similar polls in November 2007, January 2009 and April 2009.

The poll sample was distributed proportionately by population among the eight counties in the RTD area and was balanced to reflect gender and political party registration in each county. The poll has a margin of error of 4.9 percent plus or minus at a 95-percent confidence level.

Among those other issues, one of the biggest shifts was in the voters’ perception of the major concerns facing metro Denver. In the latest poll, unemployment is the biggest concern, by a substantial margin over any other. Thirty-two percent of respondents cited lack of jobs as the major issue facing the metro area. Economic conditions – a related concern – was a distant second at nine percent. Public transportation was third at six percent.

In the November 2007 survey, transportation was the top concern at 14 percent. The economy didn’t even rate a mention at that time.

The new poll also showed that despite RTD’s problems with FasTracks’ costs and the declining sales tax revenues that have ripped a $2.45 billion hole in the transit agency’s ability to build it by 2017, voters still have a strongly favorable impression of FasTracks. In fact, those holding a negative impression declined. In April of 2009, 73 percent had a favorable impression of FasTracks and 25 percent held a negative view.

Now, after a year of being buffeted by negative news about the program, FasTracks fared better with 77 percent having a favorable impression and 21 percent holding a negative one.

Confidence in RTD’s ability to complete FasTracks also has grown over the last year, as the agency has taken on more reviews and alternative approaches to completing it. Voter confidence in RTD completing the program grew from 59 percent to 62 percent, while those expressing no confidence declined from 38 percent to 33 percent.