Good news for commuters and businesses as Santa Fe Boulevard reopens at C-470
Commuters in Douglas County can breathe a sigh of relief two days earlier than expected. A closure of US 85/C-470 for bridge demolition that was planned to last until Thursday is over.
The closure began Friday evening, so Monday was the first weekday commuters got a taste of the delays and detours that came with the project. It's all part of a larger effort to widen Santa Fe Boulevard (Highway 85) from four to six lanes and alleviate congestion.
Approximately 150,000 drivers use the C-470/US-85 interchange every day. Most of them are used to construction and congestion on Santa Fe Drive. Especially as more people move to new communities in the area, like Sterling Ranch.
"It's just a major point of travel for a lot of people. We use it to go to Denver or anywhere west," said Highlands Ranch resident Ashley Kukuczka, "all the traffic on Santa Fe has been horrible, and the accidents, and the potholes, and the constant changing traffic patterns. It's frustrating cause you never know what you're gonna get."
But this month they had to deal with a complete closure of the highway between County Line Road and Blakeland Drive, as well as C-470 at the interchange with US-85.
Kukuczka and her family took a weekend trip to the mountains from their Highlands Ranch home. They missed the closure on Friday, due to a delay in construction starting, but had to drive through it on the way back Sunday.
"Coming back down we definitely hit the traffic," said Kukuczka, "took about 20 minutes to get through a mile and a half."
Kukuczka also runs a nearby salon, and was worried the closure might delay her clients.
"I actually have a couple clients that live on that side of Santa Fe so coming to and from, I hope it doesn't throw appointments off," said Kukuczka.
She's not the only one thinking about the closure's impact to business.
"Today has been definitely on the slower side," said Justin Sommer Kamysz.
Kamysz is a cashier at Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply, just south of the interchange. He says business has been slower since the project began, but his commute, which usually takes about 20 minutes, has been longer.
"This morning took me about an hour and a half to get here which was frustrating, but there's not much I can do about it" said Kamysz.
His expectations on Monday for the remainder of the construction?
"Long commutes, less people, and definitely standing around here for a lot longer," said Kamysz.
Meanwhile Kukuczka hopes it will all be worth it, when the widening project is complete.
"We do use it a lot and I'm just hoping it frees it up a lot more," said Kukuczka.
South Metro Fire Station 16 is near the junction. Luckily, emergency vehicles can still use Santa Fe, so the closure has not impacted their response times. But nearby businesses and neighbors will be happy to get relief from the traffic when the closure ends Tuesday.
They may not be out of the woods yet, however. The widening project is not yet complete. Next, construction will begin on the second half of the new bridge.
