AURORA — The recent air show at Aurora Reservoir wasn’t just a delight for the thousands of people who came to see the Thunderbirds flying overhead for the first time in nearly two decades.
For many, it was a ; people were stuck on the roads for up to three hours to get in while others were turned away completely.
The issue showed area leaders that improvements need to be made on East Quincy Avenue and on South Gun Club Road.
A cursory analysis done last year by the city on the cost of improving those roads — for a proposed casino on Arapahoe Park, which voters ultimately rejected — put the project at more than $60 million.
That estimate was for a six-lane highway on Quincy, which is currently one lane in each direction, and includes three lanes in each direction with a “continuous flow intersection” at Quincy and Gun Club.
Widening Gun Club was also included in the analysis, as well as improvements for Harvest Road, which feeds into the Tollgate Crossing subdivision.
Arapahoe County Commissioner Rod Bockenfeld said he warned Aurora that Quincy could only handle 1,500 cars an hour to the reservoir. The saw 22,000 vehicles May 30 and 32,000 vehicles May 31.
The cost of widening Quincy would be shared between Aurora and Arapahoe County. How much that comes out to is a bit tricky. Aurora annexed just the two existing lanes on Quincy. Widening it would technically encroach on Arapahoe County property. Complicating the issue is that Gun Club is technically a state highway.
Quincy, east of E-470, is the main — and pretty much only — access for a variety of amenities in that area, including Aurora Reservoir, Arapahoe Park horse track and Arapahoe County Fairgrounds. A new police- and fire-training facility for Aurora is expected to be completed by the end of the year along that stretch of highway, which will increase traffic.
Also, with the economy on better footing now, officials expect the housing market to pick up in that area. As it is now, Gun Club experiences traffic backups during rush hours.
“That area is going to continue to expand,” Bockenfeld said. “Both the city and the county are motivated to make improvements. However, the dollars are not here to do that at this point.”
Aurora City Councilman Bob Broom, whose district includes that part of southeast Aurora, said he and his wife experienced the traffic nightmare on one of the show days. It took them more than 1½ hours to get in.
Broom said the city twice has asked voters to allow it to continue a sunset tax so it can make road improvements in that area. And twice they were rejected.
The city recently found it will have to spend $15 million annually just to maintain the current roads in Aurora. Where new money to improve the traffic quagmire near Quincy and Gun Club is anyone’s guess. But something needs to be done, officials said.
“There’s more need to make improvements out there,” Broom said. “It’s a question of limited funding.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
