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Driving You Crazy: I would like to know what the poles are along Wadsworth between 35th and 36th

A Denver7 viewer took their concerns to Denver7 traffic expert Jayson Luber after the poles popped up over a year ago but nothing has been done with them since

Alissa from Denver writes, “What’s driving you crazy? What are these posts? In the what feels like 15 years of construction on Wadsworth between 35 and 36th, these popped up over a year ago. Denver7 traffic expert Jayson Luber gets to the bottom of that question.

Driving You Crazy: I would like to know what the poles are along Wadsworth between 35th and 36th

By: Jayson Luber

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WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Alissa from Denver writes, “What’s driving you crazy? What are these posts? In the what feels like 15 years of construction on Wadsworth between 35 and 36th, these popped up over a year ago but nothing has been done other than these posts. Would love to know what these are.”

You can see a picture I took from last week of the poles Alissa is talking about below.

The City of Wheat Ridge is the lead in reconstructing Wadsworth Boulevard between 35th and I-70. Since the project started four years ago in November of 2021, the city has rebuilt the roadway, added continuous flow intersections (CFI) at both 38th Avenue and 44th Avenue, added and improved the sidewalks and added a bike/pedestrian path from 35th to the Clear Creek Trail.

As part of the pre-construction activity, a noise analysis was conducted for several preexisting or under development multi-family properties. Eligible properties were given the option to have a sound wall installed if it would provide a measurable benefit but of all the properties that were asked, only Morning Side Retirement Community that sits east of Wadsworth and north of 35th Avenue chose to have a wall installed. The noise analysis indicated that a 20-foot wall was needed to provide the necessary benefit to the apartment complex.

The long line of poles you see erected along that northbound side of Wadsworth run for almost 500 feet with another 100 feet just east of Wadsworth. Between the poles there will be large, flat concrete panels installed. As you might have noticed, only one panel has been placed at the southern end of the wall.

When I asked officials at the City of Wheat Ridge why there has been a seemingly very long delay from the installation of the poles to the installation of the wall panels, I was told more time than expected was needed to finalize the texture and finish the details for the sound wall panels after the one test panel was placed.

“We have fielded a few questions regarding the history of the wall and status of construction,” Amanda Harrison with the City of Wheat Ridge tells me. “We understand construction and unfinished projects can be frustrating, but our residents have been patient and remarkably understanding.”

Amanda tells me they anticipate the installation of the sound wall panels to start up in November.

One other piece of this puzzle is that public artwork will be installed as part of the sound wall. I was told it has taken longer than anticipated to finalize the design of the artwork and manufacture the panels. The city and the Wheat Ridge Cultural Commission advertised a call to artists in 2022 looking for local art to help mitigate the visual impact of the sound wall. The proposal by JCAS Studio, a collaboration of local artists, was approved by the city council in 2022.

The art, pictured below, is described as a microscopic slice of a stalk of wheat showing what it looks like at a cellular level. At the November, 2022 city council meeting where the art was shown to the city, one concern brought up was there would have to be some special engineering to make the design super visible on the sound wall panels. The city tells me their plan is that the panels will be completely installed by the end of this year and add that this will be the only noise wall constructed as part of this project. Several other commissioned art pieces will be installed down Wadsworth as part of the overall project.

Wadsworth Wall Art.jpg — Rendition of how the new Wadsworth sound wall art would look when installed

As for the rest of the project, Amanda tells me the road work is just over 90% complete but are still hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony October 17. “It’s a bit premature, but we want to celebrate before the upcoming election and the current council turns over”, said Harrison.

She said the continuous flow intersections are expected to open in late October and into early November. The totality of the project, with landscaping and all the finishing touches including other art installation, she said, continues to be on track to be fully complete in spring 2026.

If you have other questions or concerns for the project team you can call their hotline at 303-390-0878 or email WadsworthProject@ci.wheatridge.co.us

Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.