To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
From: Daniel Sailer, Director of Public Works
Title
Five-Year Capital Improvement Program Update, Plus Recommended Douglas County Priorities for CDOT Projects
Body
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Overview
The purpose of this item is to provide Town Council with an update on projects within the existing five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). In addition, CDOT has requested that the Douglas County Steering Committee provide a recommendation to them on priority projects on the State’s transportation network to assist them with developing their budget priorities.
The following is a brief summary update on some of the priority projects on the Town’s Five-Year Transportation CIP:
• Crystal Valley Interchange: All phases of this project are under construction. The targeted construction completion is summer of 2027. Progress is trending toward meeting this target. Major structural components of the bridge over I-25 are currently the focus for March along with work on the northbound on-ramp.
• Four-Corners: The intersection has been opened in its final configuration. The contractor will be focusing on completing remaining minor elements that remain, mostly outside of travel lanes, this winter and spring.
• Crowfoot Valley Road Widening: Final property acquisitions are underway. Target construction start is late spring/early summer. CORE is currently in the process of completing their electric line relocations. Once construction begins, the traffic signal at Sapphire Point Boulevard will be an early construction focus with completion of the signal targeted for the fall of 2025.
• Fifth Street Widening: This project is also in the process of acquiring all needed properties. The Water Department will be constructing new water and sanitary service mains ahead of the road work in order to increase capacity to serve future users within this corridor. Construction of phase one (of two phases) of the roadway widening is targeted to begin mid-summer. This first phase involves widening the road to two through travel lanes in each direction between approximately Valley Drive to Ridge Road. Sidewalk will be constructed to complete a connection to Woodlands Blvd on the south side., and a traffic signal installed at Valley Drive. Due to revenue constraints, phase two is targeted for construction in 2028. This will be reassessed as part of the 2026 budget development process.
• Wolfensberger Road Widening: This project entails the widening of the road to two travel lanes in each direction from approximately Prairie Hawk Drive to Coachline, plus an updated cross section from Coachline to the Town’s boundaries. A roundabout at Red Hawk Drive is also planned. The project design was paused at the 30% level due to revenue forecasts preventing the ability to begin construction for several years. Property acquisition is currently underway with all acquisitions currently targeted to be completed by the end of 2025. Due to revenue constraints, the completion of the design is targeted for completion in 2029. Construction is not planned within the current five-year balanced financial Capital Improvement Program (CIP). This will be reassessed as part of the 2026 budget development process.
• Traffic Signal Installations: A traffic signal is planned for the intersection of Prairie Hawk Drive and Low Meadow Boulevard this year. The signal design is in progress and construction is targeted for completion by late fall of 2025. CDOT recommends a traffic signal at Founders Parkway and Crimson Sky. Staff are reviewing the various options to feasibly construct a signal at this CDOT owned intersection as they have indicated that it would likely be several years before funding would be available for them to install. Initial indications are that existing Transportation Fund balance is available to encumber funds in 2025 for the design and construction without negatively impacting the existing five-year balanced financial five-year CIP. Some previous development funds exist for this specific signal installation. The Pine Canyon property is proposing an access point at this location. If this is approved, it is recommended that reimbursement of all, or some of the remaining cost be attributed to this development should we move forward with this option.
There are numerous CIP projects that have been identified within the Town’s Transportation Master Plan, which are needed to accommodate the projected full build out of the Town per the Town’s Comprehensive Master Plan. Funding for these projects comes from Transportation Impact fees assessed at the time of building permits. Since this revenue is highly variable based on market conditions, the timing of project implementation can also vary. Additionally, the timing of project implementation is typically lagging the need based on when these fees are received. Should Town Council desire to understand alternative revenue options, staff recommends developing a future report for Town Council’s review. The following is a list of some of the priority roadway projects that are not part of the existing five-year balanced CIP. The Transportation Master Plan (TMP) is currently being updated and will be scheduled for Council review and approval this year.
There are intersection improvements that have also been identified in the current TMP update as needing capacity upgrades such as additional lanes.
CDOT Request for Douglas County Priorities
CDOT has requested that CDOT project priorities for Douglas County be provided to them to assist with developing their Region #1 budget. Project recommendations are geared toward improvements on State owned/maintained facilities within Douglas County. The Douglas County Transportation Steering Committee, made up of representatives from local governments within Douglas County, is targeting May to provide a formal recommended priority list to CDOT. Mayor Gray, and Councilmember Dietz are the current voting members from Castle Rock on the Steering Committee.
Town staff from Public Works is part of the Douglas County Transportation Working Group that provides recommendations to the Steering Committee. This group met on February 21 to develop the first draft of a County wide priority recommendation. The attached map (Attachment A) provides the location of the 20 projects that were reviewed along with the recommended priorities provided by Town staff. Staff from other jurisdictions provided similar recommendations. These recommendations were then combined to provide a single list of priorities for the County. The second attachment (Attachment B) is the current Working Group’s draft recommendation.
As can be seen on the attachments, the County has identified numerous projects on CDOT’s system. Like the Town, CDOT has more project needs than their ability to fund. Recently, the Crystal Valley Interchange project benefited from a Denver Region Council of Governments (DRCOG) federal grant that totals close to $9 Million with a recent amendment. This was based on it being a recent Douglas County number one priority. The staff members that make up the Technical Working Group support the vision of providing recommendations on the overall greatest need within the County. The current draft Working Group combined recommendation reflects this.
Once the Steering Committee provides their formal list of priority recommendations in May, CDOT will take these recommendations into consideration as they begin developing their constrained CIP for the next four years. There is no guarantee that any of these projects will be included in their final budget(s) over the next four years.
Recommendation
No formal recommendation is provided. This item is for general discussion and feedback. Staff discussed the current draft priorities for CDOT projects with the Public Works Commission at their March 3rd meeting. The Commission did not have any proposed changes to the current draft priorities.
Attachments
Attachment A: Map of CDOT Project Locations
Attachment B: Current Technical Working Group Draft List of Priority Projects