{"id":2992,"date":"2018-01-18T19:41:18","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T19:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/52.10.1.109\/?p=2992"},"modified":"2018-01-20T01:40:15","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T01:40:15","slug":"2992-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/?p=2992","title":{"rendered":"Viva the intersection!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Time to celebrate! The long-awaited reconfiguration of Arapahoe Road and I-25 is slated for completion next summer. Balloons signaled last week\u2019s \u201cTaco Thursday,\u201d celebrating the near finish of the Arapahoe portion. Photo by Peter Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Partners \u2018taco \u2018bout\u2019 progress on I-25 and Arapahoe <\/i><\/h3>\n

BY PETER JONES<\/strong>
\nNEWS EDITOR<\/span><\/p>\n

A gift bag passed out on Arapahoe Road last week said everything about the long-awaited, but ongoing redesign at the street\u2019s nearby intersection with I-25.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a stress reliever. We\u2019ve got lollipops because construction sucks,\u201d said Lauren Masias, the director of community engagement for Denver South Economic Development Partnership, which has driven the project to the onramp and beyond. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dig a little deeper into the bag and you might even find an air freshener \u201cto help cleanse your senses as you maneuver through construction,\u201d a handout explained. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s \u201cTaco Thursday\u201d in the parking lot outside El Tapatio restaurant near the interchange was an opportunity for leading partners Denver South and the Colorado Department of Transportation to thank area businesses, residents and whoever else happened to drive by for their patience and support during the years-long $66 million project.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you remember, cars used to back up on I-25 going southbound,\u201d said Bob Wilson, CDOT\u2019s communications manager. \u201cPeople would be driving 60 mph and come up on stopped traffic. That\u2019s been eliminated. Now we have three left-turn lanes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although an afternoon of free tacos\u2014hashtag #tacos\u2014was partly in celebration of the new normal [at least on the Arapahoe Road end of the construction], the thoroughfare shared by Centennial and Greenwood Village is not technically out of the traffic jam yet. <\/span><\/p>\n

Arapahoe\u2019s final eastbound alignment was slated for completion this week, and the road will be briefly closed for repaving later this month, Wilson cautioned. Then comes the remaining work on I-25, involving some late-night lane closures, before the entire project finally hits the exit ramp next summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

More tacos then, perhaps?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be very exciting. It\u2019s going to be a vast improvement,\u201d Masias said. \u201cOur mission is to improve connectivity to and from the Denver South corridor, as well as enhance the connectivity within it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The project is on time and on budget, the officials emphasized. <\/span><\/p>\n

The nonprofit Denver South has served as a sort of umbrella organization for the reconfiguration, along with CDOT and a range of other interested intergovernmental partners, including the cities of Centennial and Greenwood Village, Arapahoe County and the Federal Highway Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

The intersection was long considered among the most congested in the metro area and has been a focus in local politics since at least the incorporation of Centennial in 2001. <\/span><\/p>\n

The widely supported project includes an additional lane along westbound Arapahoe from Yosemite Street to Greenwood Plaza Boulevard, three left-turn lanes from the I-25 off-ramps, realignment of the frontage road in the northeast quadrant of the interchange, noise walls near the intersection of Arapahoe and Yosemite, and the partial widening of Yosemite. <\/span><\/p>\n

As all that work has gone on in the neighborhood, Masias says partnering with the cooperating local businesses, such as El Tapatio, Target and Dairy Queen, has been a pleasure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has been tolerant and patient. Everyone has been really eager to work with us,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two of the most interested parties\u2014the cities of Centennial and Greenwood Village\u2014are both pleased to finally see a light at the end of tunnel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thrilled at the excellent progress that has been made here and how this project will make people\u2019s lives better,\u201d Greenwood City Councilmember Freda Miklin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Centennial Councilmember C.J. Whelan, a candidate for mayor, noted that transportation issues, and the Arapahoe\/I-25 interchange in particular, have always rated high in resident polls on what should be the city\u2019s priorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a main corridor that serves both our citizens and businesses and this improvement is going to help dramatically,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been looking forward to this for a long time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Partners \u2018taco \u2018bout\u2019 progress on I-25 and Arapahoe BY PETER JONES NEWS EDITOR A gift bag passed out on Arapahoe Road last week said everything about the long-awaited, but ongoing redesign at the street\u2019s nearby intersection with I-25. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a stress reliever. We\u2019ve got lollipops because construction sucks,\u201d said Lauren Masias, the director …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}