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August 7, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I SS UE 29
LoneTreeVoice.net A publication of
D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
Ballot won’t feature schools State funding plan portrayed as unfair by district board members By Jane Reuter
jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com
The complex developing around the Lincoln light rail station includes a water feature and public art. Two apartment complexes with a total of 371 units are planned there. Photo by Jane Reuter
Lincoln Station moving full steam ahead Transit-oriented project picking up speed as economy rebounds By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com When the Clock Tower Grill opened in Lincoln Station in October 2009, its staff felt a bit lonely. The southeast light rail extension had opened in late 2006, but a battered economy delayed construction of many of the other buildings planned near the light rail stop that opened in November 2006. “I think then it was more about the potential,” general manager Tyler Thompson said of the restaurant owner’s decision to open at Lincoln Station. Five years later, that potential is coming to life, and the landscape looks strikingly different. A boutique salon, ballet fitness studio and other businesses share the Station Street building, which now is flanked by other buildings housing offices and medical suites. Public art, including the iridescent
glass piece “Sun Stream” erected on the side of Lincoln Station’s five-story parking garage and a plaza with a water feature, give visitors and light rail riders reasons to linger a while. Construction is under way on an apartment complex a stone’s throw from the restaurant’s door along Park Meadows Drive, and another, larger complex is planned for construction this fall on the site’s west end. Just across Park Meadows Drive, Kaiser Permanente’s six-story, 275,000-squarefoot multi-specialty building opened in late 2013. “Some of the plans have not come to fruition, but a lot of them have,” Thompson said. “Kaiser, the apartment buildings — it’s a great area.” With existing apartment complexes like the Metropolitan already next door and two others soon to come, the Clock Tower staff no longer minds its once-isolated post. “It’s nice we’re the only game in town for walking distance,” Thompson said. The 35-acre property, while abutting the City of Lone Tree, is located in unincorporated Douglas County.
Lincoln Station’s evolution follows the path of most transit-oriented developments, which are designed as mixed-use, high-density residential and commercial areas focused on access to public transportation. The complex currently under construction on Station Street east of Park Meadows Drive will include 101 units. The Lofts at Lincoln Station, developed by Niebur Development, is described as a Class-A, luxury property. It will include a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, average 787-square-feet each. Niebur anticipates leasing units in early 2015. Construction on a second apartment complex between Station Way and the Metropolitan apartments will begin late this year, and wrap up in mid-2016. The Camden Property Trust project includes about 270 units. Rent for the units, which range in size from 570 to 1,250-squarefeet, will average $1,400. Camden operates several apartment complexes in the Denver area, including Camden Belleview Station. Like its planned Lone Tree complex, it is within walking distance of the Belleview light rail station.
Lengthy I-25 project to start this month ‘Lane balancing’ will widen highway By Jane Reuter jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com Two and a half years might sound like a long time to add two, three-mile-long lanes to Interstate 25, but state officials said the lengthy construction period was created in deference to the traveling public. The $32 million to $35 million “lanebalancing” project, which will add a lane to I-25 in both directions between Lincoln Avenue and County Line Road, will begin by Aug 20. It’s set for completion in December 2016. Why so long? “Because it’s I-25,” Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Crystal Morgan said. “We can’t do a lot of
work on I-25 during the day, so almost all of the work has to be done at night and on weekends. “You’ll see a lot of work being done during the day, but we are required to maintain those lanes. We will have reduced speed limits, and that does cause backups. So you will see some disruption.” The project will convert the six-lane section of highway to eight lanes, reducing congestion created in large part by I-25 drivers exiting and merging from the C-470 southbound off-ramp and the northbound Lincoln on-ramp, and those merging and exiting southbound I-25 at its intersections with County Line Road and Lincoln Avenue. The construction will also expand highway ramps. Off the highway, it will eliminate the frontage road just east of I-25 and north of Lincoln Avenue, creating a trail connection. The work originally was planned as part of the massive metro Denver Trans-
portation Expansion Project, or T-REX, completed in 2006. The five years of construction that began in 2001 widened major portions of the interstate and added 19 miles of light rail, including the southeast corridor light rail line to Lone Tree. Crews will do most of the lane-balancing construction between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., but Morgan said about three hours of each night shift is consumed with closing and reopening portions of the highway. “We really only have the availability to work for about six hours,” she said. Winter construction is further hampered by cold temperatures that often prohibit concrete work. “So we tend to lose a lot of construction time in the winter,” Morgan said. The project, cut from T-REX due to budget restrictions, is jointly funded by CDOT, Douglas County, the City of Lone Tree and the Denver Regional Council of Governments.
Douglas County School District staff proposed a way to fix the district’s aging buildings without raising taxes, but the school board recently decided not to put the question on November’s ballot. Board members unanimously adopted the resolution not to participate in the fall election, citing concerns with the state’s school funding formula, which they believe already puts an unfair burden on Douglas County taxpayers. But a member of DCSD’s fiscal oversight committee said other factors are at play. “I think there are bigger issues the board is facing they need to resolve,” Dave Usechek said. “There is no doubt in my mind there’s a need (for capital funding). But until there is positive support for the board, and no longer this bickering between parents and the board, I am not willing to support giving additional funds. Both sides need to resolve their differences and start working together for the best interests of kids.”
Ballot continues on Page 9
Union numbers declining Reasons behind decrease in teachers’ membership depend on who’s talking By Jane Reuter
jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com Membership in Douglas County’s teachers’ union has dropped from about 70 percent of the district’s teachers in 2012 to around 50 percent, its president said. The 47-year collective bargaining agreement between the Douglas County School District and the Douglas County Federation expired after negotiations failed in 2012. School board member Doug Benevento said the decrease points to a failure of leadership, but union president Courtney Smith said it’s a combination of teacher attrition and district roadblocks. “Teachers are fleeing that union as quickly as they can,” Benevento said. “The union leadership is in it for the union leadership, and not for the rank and file.” Smith said many of the teachers who have recently left DCSD were union members who can’t continue their DCF affiliation Union continues on Page 9