The design of the Front Street flyover has some difficulties,
Bob Watts, director of public works, told members of the Castle
Rock Town Council Monday night.
“Although we can make the design work, it has some construction
problems,” Watts said. “It’s not a bridge I’d want to build coming
into the downtown.”
Watts will meet with consultants later this week to begin
looking at what parts of the design are salvageable and what needs
to be changed.
Some of the construction issues with the existing design are
reverse curves.
“There are two horizontal curves on the bridge,” Watts said.
“That makes it difficult to construct, plow snow and also
maintain.”
Another issue is the 6 percent approach grade on the north side
on Perry Street, Watts said.
“We felt it was best to look at some redesign,” Watts said. “We
want to see if we can come up with a design that is easier to
construct and maintain.”
Watts said he was cautiously optimistic.
“It might come out that we can’t design a better bridge,” Watts
said. “We just want the best design we can have.”
The existing design was contracted two years ago as the second
phase of the Front Street improvement project. Plans to go forward
with the flyover were put on hold until further study could be
made.
Castle Rock District 3 Town Councilman Herb Teets was one of the
council members who pushed to slow down and evaluate the
plans.
“We built Perry Street without considering its impact to Fifth
Street,” Teets said. “I [don’t] want the town to make the same
mistake with the flyover.”
At the time the plans for the flyover came before the council,
no one had studied the impact the bridge would have on Fifth
Street.
“We needed to study the ramifications to Fifth Street,” Teets
said.
The difference between then and now is the fact the town has
plans to widen Fifth Street, Teets said.
The consultants, Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig, who worked on the
town’s update transportation master plan; PBS&J; and Matrix
Design Group will evaluate the existing bridge design and see if it
can be improved, Watts said.
This new curve will delay the construction of the flyover a
little, Watts said.
“It will take [until] the end of summer to get the designs
redone,” Watts said. “We would then probably start construction in
September, October or November.”
The town still plans to complete the flyover at the same time
the Fifth Street widening project from Front to Gilbert streets is
completed, Watts said.
But although the design is causing delays, Watts is still
hopeful both projects will be completed by the beginning of the
school year for 2005.
Watts will present an update to the council some time in
mid-March after the consultants have had a chance to evaluate the
existing design, he said.