After delays due to flooding in the area, crews are working full force to complete the expansion project of Firestone Boulevard. Chip sealing operations started today, Sept. 30, 2013, and will be completed tomorrow, along with temporary lane striping. Permanent striping will be put into place within the next two weeks.
Firestone Engineer Dave Lindsay said the contractor is working hard to finish this project and is not far behind schedule given the floods that hit the area earlier this month.
Final cleanup and reseeding of the disturbed areas will be completed in the next two weeks as the project is expected to be completed by mid-October.
The expansion 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 Town of Firestone was awarded a $125,000 grant from the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund managed by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) toward this project. 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 contract price for the project is $780,000 and comes from the Town’s impact fees, which are paid by development in the community. After the completion of this project, the street impact fee fund will be depleted.
Further expansion to four lanes of Firestone Boulevard with curb, gutters and sidewalks, as well as other Town streets, will be dependent upon the sales tax initiative before Firestone voters this November, which is asking for a 1 cent sales tax increase that will be dedicated to street and park sustainability, operations, maintenance and capital improvement projects.