AURORA —Residents and commuters in South Aurora are anticipating what plans the city will come up with to improve traffic flow along gridlocked roadways near Parker Road and Quincy Avenue, where increased use is exponentially outpacing the infrastructure.
“I’ve noticed a huge increase in traffic since we first moved here,” said Diana Wood, a 30-year resident of the Quincy Hill Townhome complex at the corner of Quincy Avenue and Smoky Hill Road. “When we first moved here, there was not all this housing built up so much out east. There was no Southlands; none of that existed out there. Traffic has really spiked because of that.”
In August, Aurora initiated a Parker Road/Quincy Avenue/Smoky Hill Road Intersection Improvement Study to try to figure out the best short- and long-term improvements for the roadways, which are a constant hindrance for drivers and residents at rush hour in the area.
“The biggest problem is really the Parker and Quincy intersection,” said David Malucky, who has lived in the adjacent Summit Park Townhomes neighborhood for eight years. “If you’re going west on Quincy toward Parker Road on any given morning, traffic can really back up all along Quincy. And the reverse is always true in the afternoon trying to go east on Quincy.”
The results of the study, , will help the city to get funding to complete a massive expansion of the clogged corridors.
In 2009, Aurora completed a similar that resulted in nearly 50 improvement suggestions for roads, intersections, general transit, pedestrian access and parallel roadway changes that ranged greatly in price, including a high-cost, ideal solution of creating a grade-separated interchange at the intersection of Parker Road and Quincy Avenue and widening Parker Road. But that’s not possible in the foreseeable future.
“There is currently no funding available for either final design of any preferred alternatives, much less any future construction,” said Cindy Colip, the city’s transportation project delivery manager. “The completion of the current study will enable any identified operational or safety improvements to be eligible for future funding, which the city will then pursue.”
Aurora applied for the Denver Regional Council of Government’s Transportation Improvement Program funding to complete this study, and was awarded $451,000 that was matched by the city.
Since 2008, traffic volumes on Parker Road have increased about 5 percent, while traffic volumes along Quincy east of Parker have increased more than 20 percent.
For example, 42,800 cars travel south on Parker Road every day right now. The city predicts that number to be at 44,600 in 2020, and 54,200 a day by 2040.
“The higher traffic volumes in 2020 and 2040 are the result of regional growth expectations and that Parker Road and Quincy Avenue serve as major arterial routes for commuters connecting southeast Denver with southern Aurora, Centennial and Arapahoe County,” Colip said. “That, combined with a lack of parallel, regional roadways to serve as an alternative to Parker Road further complicates the situation.”
While there have been a few minor operational changes since the 2009 study, there have been no roadway improvements that added notable capacity. Wood said the rise in area population and activity has outpaced the needed modifications to the roadways for nearly a decade.
“There have been little fixes here and there, but I would say it’s been in dire need for about seven or eight years now,” she said. “But these short-term fixes are just exactly that — short-term solutions for something that needs a complete overhaul.”
A potential low-cost solution would improve the curb return radius on the northeast corner of Parker Road and Quincy Avenue to better facilitate large vehicles maneuvering from Quincy Avenue to southbound Parker Road.
The study will evaluate a range of alternatives that may be implemented alone or in combination.
“An evaluation of the existing conditions at Parker Road and Quincy Avenue (completed in October 2015) shows the intersection operates with lengthy delays in part due to backups that extend beyond adjacent intersections during the morning rush hour and evening rush hour,” Colip said. “The intersection operations will further degrade over time as development continues in Aurora.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
