The city of Arnold has postponed work on the traffic signals at Jeffco Boulevard and Tenbrook Road.
Traffic signals at that intersection will now be turned off between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, while new traffic signals are installed. The intersection will have temporary stop signs during the installation.
The city originally planned to do the signal work today (Nov. 27). However, because of a severe wind advisory issued by the National Weather Service, it was deemed unsafe to use boom trucks or cranes today.
Improvements have been underway at the intersection since July and include a dedicated left-turn lane from the Fox schools campus onto Jeffco, as well as a left-turn lane from Tenbrook Road onto Jeffco. Both left-turn lanes will have an arrow traffic signal.
Road work on the Fox campus side of the intersection was completed Aug. 14, and construction to improve the Tenbrook Road side of the intersection started Oct. 21.
The project is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
The completion of the project, which will cost an estimated $820,174.79, is a long time coming, City Administrator Bryan Richison said.
“I’m just relieved,” he said. “It has been a difficult project from the start (in 2013).”
In addition to the left-turn lanes from the Fox campus and from Tenbrook Road, improvements include a through lane and a right-turn lane onto Jeffco from both sides of the intersection, and the entrances from the Fox campus and Tenbrook Road onto Jeffco will be lined up, Richison said.
The project included a 200-foot extension to the right-turn lane on the Fox campus to help alleviate congestion there. Plans also call for crosswalks to be improved, including the addition of traffic lights with buttons and a countdown to indicate how much time walkers have to cross the intersection. The crosswalks will be built to Americans with Disabilities Act standards, with ramps, markings and the electronic countdown sign, Richison said.
Spencer Contracting Co. in Arnold was awarded the construction contract for the project in February. However, work had to be delayed until the end of the 2018-2019 school year, so it didn’t begin until July 11.
The city had to pay an additional $10,577.79 for the new traffic signal equipment because of the delays and the increased cost of steel, Wagner told the City Council on Oct. 18.
Most of the funding for the project is being covered with a $566,718 federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant approved by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. Arnold will pay $253,456.79 toward the project, which included the cost of land acquisition, Richison said.