September 2021 Newsletter

GOVERNMENT
ENHANCING OUR
community
BELLEVIEW AVENUE AND I-25
INTERCHANGE PROPOSED
IMPROVEMENTS
WHERE ARE WE AT TODAY?
The Belleview Interchange serves as a major connection in
the south Denver region. The interchange experiences heavy
traffic throughout the day with high traffic volumes in the
morning, noon and evening peak periods. Nearly 50,000
vehicles per day travel on Belleview Avenue to access places
in Greenwood Village, Denver, Cherry Hills Village and
unincorporated Arapahoe County. These daily traffic
volumes are expected to increase to 65,000 by 2035 due to
the region’s growth and development. The existing Belleview
and I-25 Interchange is not able to accommodate current
and future traffic demands, and the addition of future
traffic will result in even further congestion and safety
concerns.
2012 CORRIDOR STUDY
LAUNCHED TO ADDRESS
TRAFFIC CONGESTION
In 2012, the Belleview Avenue Corridor Plan study was
initiated through a partnership between Arapahoe County,
City and County of Denver, Greenwood Village and the
Southeast Public Improvement Metropolitan District
(SPIMD) to help plan for future improvements that would
relieve congestion at the interchange and along the corridor.
The study area included the area of Belleview Avenue from
Monaco Street on the west to DTC Boulevard on the east,
including the I-25 Interchange. The plan outlined
recommended improvements for automobile, transit, and
pedestrian and bicycle traffic along this major arterial.
Several dozen ideas were identified, analyzed, and vetted with
each of the stakeholder agencies that participated in the
study. The interchange area was fraught with constraints
including development on all four quadrants of this already
tight interchange; a light rail line along the west side of the
interchange; and four closely spaced signalized intersections.
The potential solutions resulting from this study established
the long-range objective for improving the Belleview Avenue
and I-25 Interchange. Stakeholder agencies began
collaborating on identifying potential funding sources. A
public open house was held on June 19, 2013, to present
findings of the study to the public. The Belleview Avenue
Corridor Study was later completed in 2016.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY
COMMENCED IN 2018
As a result of the Belleview Avenue Corridor Study which
identified potential solutions to the Belleview Avenue and
I-25 Interchange, the next step was for the stakeholder
agencies to complete an Environmental Study, required by
the Federal Government, in coordination with federal, state
and local agencies. The study reevaluated alternatives that
were considered in the Belleview Avenue Corridor Study, as
well as new alternatives.
The Belleview Avenue and I-25 Interchange Improvement
Study began in 2018. The goal of the Environmental Study
was to identify a preferred alternative that can move into
final design and construction. The technical analysis
included alternatives analyzed in a detailed evaluation of
specific criteria, including traffic operations, safety,
multimodal, community impacts (access, environmental,
right-of-way, constructability), and cost.
Two alternatives, along with the No-Action Alternative, made
it through detailed screening and were considered for
recommendation. The first alternative is a Single-Point Urban
Interchange at Belleview Avenue and I-25 (shown on page 13).
PG. 12 GV NEWSLETTER | SEPTEMBER 2021