Jason from Aurora writes, “What is driving you crazy? Why is there a bottleneck on eastbound Quincy just east of Reservoir Road? Are there any plans to add additional lanes here? The intersection at Quincy and Reservoir Rd. seems dangerous due to the bottle neck. I always see people in the eastbound lanes trying to race and get over before the bottleneck right after the light. What gives?”
To me Jason, when I look at that section of Quincy Ave. from above, it looks more like a bow tie rather than a bottleneck. Wide on both ends and very narrow at the knot which happens to be right where Flanders Street connects with Quincy.
As you can see in the picture above, there is enough room for the additional lanes, they were just never built. The area was originally in unincorporated Arapahoe County and at the time of the retail and church development on the south side of Quincy, between Reservoir Road and Flanders Street, some funds were collected from the developer by Arapahoe County to pay for a portion of the road. Then the city of Centennial annexed the area and held onto the money for the improvements.
The good news I can tell you is now the City of Centennial is working with the City of Aurora to use those funds to widen Quincy from the existing two lanes to six lanes. The plan started back in 2015 to improve the long section of Quincy between Reservoir Road and Himalaya Street. During the City of Aurora’s planning for the 2017 budget, the widening work was identified as a priority for both the City of Aurora and City of Centennial.
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Julie Patterson with the City of Aurora tells me, “Funding has now been allocated for the design and construction of the widening, and Aurora is taking the lead on the project with support from Centennial.”
Prior to this time, neither city allocated funding to complete the work.
The scope of the project includes widening Quincy Avenue to six lanes with a painted center median, filling gaps of missing sidewalk, making modifications to the existing drainage system and adding street lights along the widened roadway. The improved roadway will look very similar to Quincy Avenue west of Reservoir Road but with a painted median.
“We are currently working on selecting a design consultant in the first quarter of this year and hope to begin construction later this year,” Patterson said.
Get more traffic news, including a project to widen I-25, whether Lyft and Uber drivers should be snow certified and what Governor Hickenlooper wants for transportation improvements, on Jayson's weekly podcast.
Denver7 traffic reporter Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 20 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 Facebookand Twitter.