To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Shannon Carter, Directors, Open Spaces
Prepared By:
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Josh Garcia, Open Spaces Planner, Open Spaces
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presenter
Presenter: Josh Garcia, Open Spaces Planner, Open Spaces
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Subject:
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11:30 AM *High Plains Trail-Parker Road Bridge Easements
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Staff will present a request for the chair of the Board of County Commissioners to sign three easements associated with the project. One easement is for Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) to be able install a guy-wire just outside their existing easement adjacent to this project. The other two easements are for the east bridge abutments required for the Parker Road bridge; one a temporary construction easement and the other a permanent easement from Kings Point LLC.
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Background and Discussion: The High Plains Regional Trail is now complete from Stephen B. Hogan Parkway on the north to the Arapahoe/Douglas County Line on the south along the east side of E-470 (see exhibit A). Along the southern end, it was determined that an at grade crossing at the Parker Rd E-470 interchange was too dangerous. The Partners Group (Aurora, Douglas Co, Arapahoe Co, Town of Parker) has determined that a safer and more comfortable option will be separating the trail from the E-470 corridor, crossing through the future Kings Point development in Aurora, and crossing Parker Road with a grade-separated crossing (see exhibit B). This crossing will be a much safer alternative than crossing at the E-470/Parker Rd interchange as originally planned. Once the trail crosses over Parker Road, it will connect with the existing Cherry Creek Trail at the 17 Mile House Farm Park, where trail users can head north on the Cherry Creek Trail or head south and connect with the existing Centennial Trail (aka E-470 Trail) within Parker to continue west. This trail connection will complete a major missing link and provide invaluable off-street access to many regional trails including Cherry Creek, Piney Creek, C-470, Marry Carter Greenway, South Platte, and many local trails. Funding for the design and construction of the southern connection of this new regional trail to the Cherry Creek Regional Trail, including the overpass of Parker Road, is a joint effort between Arapahoe County, Parker, Aurora, Douglas County, Great Outdoors Colorado, and the E-470 Public Highway Authority. The Parker Road overpass has been designed. In order to be constructed, several easements are needed. On the 17 Mile House property, several electric poles for the existing IREA electrical line will have to be relocated. One of the electric poles guy-wire must be relocated and will fall outside of the existing IREA easement, so an additional small easement is needed for the new guy-wire (see exhibit C). On the east side of Parker Rd., the bridge is mostly located on a trail easement for the High Plains Trail that runs through the Kings Point development (see exhibit D). However, part of the eastern bridge abutment is located on Kings Point development property outside the existing trail easement. This property is owned by the Kings Point LLC. Kings Point is providing the County a temporary construction easement and a permanent easement for the east bridge abutments. Without these easements, the bridge would not be able to be constructed in this location.
Fiscal Impact: There are no fiscal impacts associated with the easements. A total of $1,105,000 from the Open Spaces Acquisition and Development Fund is approved for this project per resolutions 180628 and 190377. The balance in the fund exceeds this amount.
Alternatives: No alternatives are being proposed at this time. Denying the easements would prevent the project from moving forward to construction. In addition, the County would have to return the $2,000,000 Great Outdoors Colorado grant awarded for this project in 2019.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☐Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners approve the three easements to allow construction of the High Plains Trail-Parker Road Bridge project to move forward.
Concurrence: Legal - Tiffanie Bleau