The Town of Firestone has been awarded a $125,000 grant from the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund managed by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). The funds are derived from oil, gas, carbon dioxide, coal and metals extracted in Colorado. The program is designed to offset impacts of the energy industry on local governments.
The awarded funds will be utilized for the Firestone Boulevard expansion project planned for the summer of 2013 from Interstate 25 to Birch Street to improve travel times in this corridor. The project will address congestion at the intersections of Firestone and Jake Jabs boulevards and Firestone Boulevard and Birch Street by adding an additional general purpose lane for both east- and west-bound traffic on Firestone Boulevard. The project will also include the addition of dual northbound left turn lanes from Birch Street onto westbound Firestone Boulevard.
The current project construction budget is estimated to be approximately $1.1 million. Funding for this project comes from the Town’s impact fees, as well as the awarded grant from DOLA. With this project, the Town’s impact fees for such capital project will be exhausted.
Once a grant agreement is received from DOLA, it must be executed by both the Town and DOLA before Firestone may proceed with construction of the project. Firestone Engineer Dave Lindsay said based on the Town’s anticipated schedule of receiving and completing the grant agreement, the project will be bid in April and a construction contract will be awarded in May. Construction would follow shortly after and should take about three months to complete.
Most of the work and expansion will be done on the south side of Firestone Boulevard, so there should be minimal disruption to through traffic. There will be some disruption to traffic on Birch Street when that part of the project is completed.