ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — DeeJay from Adams County writes, “What’s driving you crazy? What’s driving me crazy is the SLOW construction and closures on York Street between 74th and 78th. When will it be done?”
It seems like this project is taking forever, DeeJay, because it was delayed nearly a year.
Originally the safety, capacity and drainage work on York Street between State Highway 224 — basically, 74th Avenue — to 78th Avenue was scheduled to start Aug. 19, 2020 and be finished by the fall of 2021.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions and supply chain issues, the work didn’t start until November of 2021 — a full year after the project’s intended completion date.
When I visited the work zone, it was very active with severe lane and roadway restrictions. Just one northbound lane of York Street is open from State Highway 224 to 78th Avenue. Southbound drivers have to run over to Washington Street, and it is tough for some of the neighbors to get to their homes and people to the nearby businesses. Both eastbound and westbound 74th Avenue is still closed between Fred Palermo Drive and York Street and will stay closed until mid-May.
Janet Lundquist, deputy director of Adams County Public Works, said they’ve had numerous successes, including the construction of the pedestrian underpass and the installation of the mural on the underpass walls.
Workers are still updating the existing water and sanitation pipes as well as installing ADA-compliant pedestrian facilities next to the roadway.
Adams County said they are now 78% complete and should be done with this phase of the project by the end of 2022.
Once phase one is complete, there's two more phases of improvements to look forward to along York Street. Phase two will reconstruct York Street, Welby Road and Devonshire Boulevard between 78th Avenue and 88th Avenue.
MORE: Read more traffic issues driving people crazy
The plan for phase two is to widen York Street from two to four lanes while adding a raised median, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, street lighting and a multi-path trail. The outdated drainage system will be part of the improvements, including water quality features.
The intersection at York Street and 78th Avenue will get new traffic signals and additional turn lanes.
Lundquist said phase two is anticipated to be advertised for construction at the end of this year with completion by the spring or summer of 2024.
Phase three will make improvements to the intersections along York Street between State Highway 224 down to 58th Avenue. Adams County will coordinate with the Colorado Department of Transportation on interchange improvements at I-270, the I-76 bridges and at State Highway 224.
There will be more roadway capacity, safety, mobility, pedestrian access facilities, multi-use trail, drainage system, structure replacement or modification and median and landscaping amenity improvements. The major part of phase three will be the replacement of the existing York Street bridge over Clear Creek.
There are also discussions underway with Union Pacific Railroad regarding responsibility of improving the railroad bridges over York Street just north of 58th Avenue.
Phase three is still in the design phase and doesn’t yet have a scheduled start and end date but will be updated on the phase three project page.
Denver7 traffic anchor Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook,Twitter or Instagram or listen to his Driving You Crazy podcast on iTunes , Stitcher , Google Play or Podbean.
