IMPROVEMENTS

FROM and many other locations along the highway corridor.

“ e key goal is to improve safety, and by improving safety, this helps to ease tra c,” said Tamara Rollison, a spokesperson with the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Here’s a look at what changes drivers will see and what’s already been completed.

Addressing problems

What the 2022 planning documents for highway improvements call early packages 1 through 3 are already done, according to CDOT.

Project 1, for updates to trafc signs, was to increase the size of existing signs and add ashing beacons near schools, among other changes.

“Alerting drivers to (the) location of access points, road curvatures, and potential school zones will improve the safety of the corridor,” a planning document says.

Project 2 was to take a look at “signalized intersections” on the corridor amid increasing tra c volumes. It was planned to collect tra c counts at some locations to make recommendations for tra c signal timing improvements.

Project 3 aimed to address areas where drivers may be making “risky maneuvers,” by changing road striping, the planning document says. e project was to install striped left-turn lane divider lines near the Castlewood Canyon entrance and revise passing striping near the Prairie Canyon Ranch entrance.

Concerns over ‘head-on crashes’

Other projects are named with letters, and package A recently started construction, CDOT said in mid-May.

“ is corridor generated many comments and concerns regarding head-on crashes and vehicles crossing the centerline” of the road, the planning document says.

Package A was to add rumble strips in the center of the roadway to help address the issue.

Updates to come

As of mid-May, CDOT was expecting to have several other projects completed by 2027.

ose include the following: cess to and from Lost Lake Drive in the Franktown area by adding left- and right-turn lanes, acceleration and deceleration lanes, along with widening shoulders and adding centerline and shoulder rumble strips. e improvements will cover both the intersection with Gillian Road and the entrance to Cherry Valley Elementary School, the planning document says.

• Package E to widen shoulders and add shoulder rumble strips on both sides of state Highway 83, also in a part of the north Franktown area.

• Package G to add a two-way left-turn lane, acceleration and deceleration lanes, along with widening shoulders and adding centerline and shoulder rumble strips in the south Franktown area.

• Package J to add left- and right-turn lanes, acceleration and deceleration lanes, widen shoulders, and add centerline and shoulder rumble strips.

• Package L to add rumble strips in the center of state Highway 83 and widen shoulders and add shoulder rumble strips on both sides of the highway in an area close to the south end of Douglas County.

• Package M to add left- and right-turn lanes, acceleration and deceleration lanes, widen shoulders, and add centerline and shoulder rumble strips, also in an area close to the south end of Douglas County.

Other potential projects

Packages B, H, I and K are not currently funded, but CDOT is “planning to deliver once funding is identi ed,” Rollison said in mid-May. For a look at those proposed projects, see CDOT’s website at tinyurl.com/SH83plans.

Funding for projects e Douglas County commissioners at their April 11 meeting voted to approve an intergovernmental agreement with CDOT for improvements on state Highway 83.

Douglas County has pitched in funding to prioritize safety improvements for state Highway 83.

Funding for that IGA totals $14.7 million, according to Douglas County’s website, and includes the following contributions:

• $4.2 million from Douglas County;

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• Package C to improve access to and from Hidden Mesa Open Space by adding left- and right-turn lanes, acceleration and deceleration lanes, along with widening shoulders and adding centerline and shoulder rumble strips.

• Package D to improve ac-

• $5.9 million from the Denver Regional Council of Governments, often referred to as “Dr. Cog,” a partnership where local governments collaborate to allocate funding on issues such as transportation;

• And $4.6 million from CDOT.