The City of Lone Tree and Douglas County are partnering to accelerate the timetable for widening RidgeGate Parkway between I-25 and Parker. But even that plan won't bring relief to rush-hour commuters anytime soon — the proposal aims for construction in 2019.
“The original plan was to have the developer do it as the area developed out that direction,” said public works director John Cotten, adding that idea included no definite timeline and had been considered being done piecemeal. “We've decided we need to do something sooner than that.”
The city is asking the Denver Regional Council of Governments for funding to help with the three-mile, $27 million project. Douglas County already is on board, and Lone Tree hopes other entities will join the effort.
“Douglas County and the City of Lone Tree, among others, have a history of partnering on important regional transportation projects,” Douglas County Board of Commissioners Chairman Roger Partridge said. “As such, we intend to engage with Lone Tree and others regarding the future funding partnership for widening RidgeGate.”
The two-lane portion of RidgeGate between Lone Tree and Parker has been an issue with commuters since it opened in 2009. It regularly backs up during the morning and evening rush hours, a problem that's recently been compounded by reconstruction of a portion of Lincoln Avenue in Parker.
Two people have died in crashes on the stretch of RidgeGate in 2014, but Cotten said it's unknown whether an additional two lanes of traffic would have prevented either accident. A 54-year-old Parker woman died in March after a man crossed into her lane. A 44-year-old Colorado Springs man died Oct. 18 when his car also veered into oncoming traffic. Authorities said he suffered from a heart condition and may have been dead before the cars collided.
“Anytime there's a two-lane road, the propensity for a head-on collision is probably a lot worse than if it were a four-lane,” said Lone Tree Police Sgt. Ryan Gallegos. But he added that two serious crashes in eight months is not an alarming statistic given RidgeGate's traffic counts.
“All the construction on RidgeGate for those housing developments has pushed a lot more cars that way. It's a bad situation, but I think it's been made worse by the construction on Lincoln Avenue.”
Lone Tree Police, whose patrol area extends to the west side of Meridian Village, are doing increased patrols in the area to try to ease traffic issues.
Darryl Jones, whose company oversees construction in Lone Tree's RidgeGate development, said much of the dirt work for the additional two lanes already is complete.
“The right-of-way is all out there right now for that road to be built,” he said. “When the first portion was built, it was graded for all four leans to be built, with the exception of a couple bridges.”
The 2019 RidgeGate widening could closely coincide with the opening of the southeast light rail extension from Lincoln Avenue to RidgeGate Parkway east of I-25. The project hinges on federal funding but could break ground in 12 to 15 months, with an additional two years of construction. Approval and construction of added light rail is expected to jump start construction on the four undeveloped acres of Lone Tree located east of I-25.
Lone Tree, Douglas County and other government agencies have partnered on several transit projects, including the current I-25 widening and several smaller improvements on Lincoln Avenue and near Park Meadows shopping center.
