CASTLE PINES, Colo. — After viewer Marge Golden emailed Denver7 about her frustrations with construction on Castle Pines Parkway, Denver7's Douglas County reporter Tyler Melito went out to learn more about Golden's frustrations and to the city of Castle Pines about the project.
The project is part of a larger, long-term effort by Castle Pines to improve several main roads in the city.
Golden has lived in Castle Pines for more than a decade. The construction she told Melito is right up against her back porch.
"It's the noise, it's the it's the dust" Golden described. "I can't sit on my patio."
Golden lives alone with her dog Belle. Suffering a stroke a few years ago, Golden says her life has changed a lot and the construction has only made things more challenging, including their exercise routine where they use a mini-treadmill and elliptical, their ability to spend anytime outside and being able to be comfortable inside their home.
"Thursday or Friday when there was all that beeping and that loud noise, oh and with that great big digger, it started smoking. Oh gosh, OK, here we go," Golden described. "People have told me just move. I heard that a lot. I don't have money to move, and I love it here. I'm home bound and I really, really, really am doing the best I can to manage."
As mentioned, Melito reached out to the city of Castle Pines to learn more about the construction work. He spoke with city engineer Dole Grebenik.
Grebenik said he understood the frustrations of people like Golden.
"If you listen closely as cars drive by, you'll hear the cavitation of tires hitting the concrete joints," Grebenik described. "It's really bad. The residents here have to deal with it every single day."
He says progress on all the road projects have been moving steadily, improving the roadways and in certain areas replacing water lines.
"We put an incentive and a disincentive clause in the contract that they had to have Castle Pines Parkway reconstructed and fully open past the intersection to the school, so that when school resumed in August, they would have normal traffic operations and fortunately, our contractor met that incentive," Grebenik said. "We'll finish this up. We'll work on our back-fill. We'll come and we'll do some sub-grade prep, and then we're going to pave it. And then when we pave it all new and with the asphalt, we're going to flip sides. We're going to come back and tear all of this concrete out, and then put it back in asphalt too."
While it's hard to put an exact timing on things due to external factors such as weather, Grebenik did share they hope to have the portion of Castle Pines Parkway by Golden's home completed in the next few weeks.
Grebenik added that the long-term impacts of the road work will be for the betterment of the community.
"We have quieter pavement, we've improved lighting, we've improved landscaping, we've removed grass and put in xeriscaping," Grebenik said. "So I think that we have a new, higher quality pavement. We have bike lanes. We have all new water infrastructure, and we have a pavement surface that's brand new."
He also said if residents have concerns, they are encouraged to reach out to him directly.
