The intersection of U.S. 85 and Colorado 67 in Sedalia will
appear much different at this time next year.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is purchasing a strip
of land east of existing U.S. 85 from the owners of Cherokee Ranch
and will begin building a 1.1 mile section of the highway there in
mid-April, CDOT managers of the project told interested residents
at an open house in Sedalia last week.
The existing 1.1-mile section of U.S. 85 will become a frontage
road, granting access to Sedalia businesses.
CDOT will buy 10 acres from Cherokee Ranch, and another 10 acres
will be a slope and grading easement, but will not be purchased by
CDOT, said Michael Brenner, CDOT’s engineer in charge of the
project.
The price that CDOT will pay for the 10 acres is in dispute and
will be decided in court, he said.
Cherokee Ranch is asking more money for the land than CDOT wants
to pay, Brenner said. Because the price issue is in litigation, he
said he could not say how much ranch representatives are asking for
the land.
The price dispute will not delay construction, he
said.
There is no question that CDOT will purchase the land – only the
price is in dispute, Brenner said.
“We have been given the right to the land,” he said. “There is
no question that we will be taking possession, it’s just a matter
of how much we will pay.”
Construction is scheduled to cost $7 million and finish in April
2004. It will expand U.S. 85 to four lanes for the 1.1 miles,
Brenner said.
A double-turn lane will be built from Colorado 67 onto
northbound U.S. 85, he said. A single-turn lane will be built from
northbound U.S. 85 onto Colorado 67, with room for expansion to a
double-turn lane as needed.
There also will be a dedicated right-turn lane from southbound
U.S. 85 onto Colorado 67, Brenner said. An acceleration lane will
also ease traffic from Colorado 67 onto southbound U.S.
85.
And from the south end of the construction zone, there will be
3.4 miles of asphalt overlay improvements on existing U.S. 85,
Brenner said.
Other work will include reinforcement and patch work on a bridge
north of nearby Kellytown, the movement of the historic Cherokee
Ranch stone gates from the existing location to the ranch access
road, and curbs and gutters along the east side of U.S. 85 adjacent
to ranch property, Brenner said.
A wildlife crossing also will be built under U.S. 85 to
accommodate an elk and deer migration route, he said.
Brenner said the crossing will be at the southern end of the
planned construction zone.
The project is part of an ongoing CDOT plan to expand U.S. 85 to
four lanes from Highlands Ranch Parkway to Castle Rock, said
assistant project engineer Jonathan Green.
After the work in Sedalia is completed next year, the next phase
of the U.S. 85 upgrade is to widen the highway to four lanes from
Highlands Ranch Parkway to Lakeside Drive, he said.
When that work is finished, CDOT’s plan is to continue widening
from Lakeside Drive to Titan Road.