REBUILD

session where the crowd voiced several concerns about tra c and safety along the road.

Today, a pair of two-lane frontage roads sit along either side of I-25 in the south Castle Rock area, running south toward Larkspur. e project planned by Douglas County and the Town of Castle Rock will rebuild the road that sits west of the highway.

A Larkspur resident called the road a “main thoroughfare” that allows people to get around, including to Castle Rock.

Teams will move the road to the west side of the railroad tracks that also run parallel to I-25 and will add features that could make the road safer to drive.

e project could start this summer and may take several years to complete all the segments. Here’s a look at what will change and what’s already underway.

Nearby development a ects timing e southmost segment, handled by Douglas County, could see construction from this fall through summer or fall 2024. e northern segment’s timeline is less clear, potentially several years away from seeing construction. e relocated frontage road will be named Dawson Trails Boulevard, according to the county.

O cials will close the existing frontage road to make room for new ramps onto I-25, according to Aaron Monks, a project manager for Castle Rock.

In the next couple years, teams will build a new interchange to provide access to I-25 at Crystal Valley Parkway in the south Castle Rock area — where Territorial Road currently meets the frontage road — a short distance away from the future relocated frontage road.

All told, the west frontage road will be relocated and rebuilt from Plum Creek Parkway, in central Castle Rock, down south to Tomah Road outside town limits.

A middle segment handled by Castle Rock — roughly from Crystal Valley Parkway south to the town limits — could see work from this summer through the next 12 months.

“In the future, 2030, Dawson Trails Blvd. will be extended north from Crystal Valley Parkway to

Plum Creek Parkway, and the timing of development on the west side of the BNSF railroad tracks dictates the timing of this segment,” the county wrote on its website.

Added features e southmost segment will remain a two-lane road — one lane in each direction — but it will gain a 12-foot painted median to provide access to the properties that sit west of the railroad tracks, according to the county. at part of the new road also comes with about 4-foot shoulders and 2-foot gravel edges, according to the project plan. e middle segment will still be a two-lane road at rst, anked by a 10-foot landscape area on one side and a 2-foot temporary shoulder on the other. e project will include left turn lanes on Bear Dance Drive and Tomah Road to connect with the new frontage road, said Art Gri th, a Douglas County project manager.

But at some point in the future, o cials expect it to greatly expand, with two lanes in each direction and a “raised median and/or turn lane” in the middle, the plan says. On either edge of the road will be 6-foot bike lanes, 10-foot landscape areas and 10-foot sidewalks.

“As the development, Dawson Trails development, continues to expand and grow, they will be required to widen it to four lanes” on that middle segment, Monks said during the meeting.

“I just want to point out the existing west I-25 frontage road will stay open through most of the interchange construction, and it will permanently stay open between Tomah and Sky View (Lane)” further to the south, Gri th told the crowd.

On the north end of the project area, the existing frontage road will see a “road closed” barrier at Yucca Hills Road, a short drive south of Plum Creek Parkway.

Guardrail removed

An o cial from the Colorado Department of Transportation, often called CDOT, said the agency is removing guardrail along the frontage road, a statement that elicited applause from the audience.

One commenter urged CDOT to continue removing guardrail, implying the rail creates a safety issue for the two-lane road and that