The City of Thornton has established a project to transform 124th Avenue between Claude Court and Colorado Boulevard into a multimodal corridor, meaning a corridor that better accommodates pedestrian and bicycle traffic and a corridor that controls vehicle speeds to create a safer and more comfortable environment for walking and biking. The project includes the design, environmental study, and construction and modification of new and existing pedestrian and bicycle facilities and traffic calming elements along the corridor. The design will cover 124th Avenue from Claude Court to Colorado Boulevard and include public engagement and input opportunities. Construction is planned to be done in phases. The first two construction phases include the York Street intersection and the York Street to Fillmore Street segment. The design, environmental study, and the first two construction phases are funded through a Transportation Improvement Program grant administered by the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Colorado Department of Transportation. The total project budget is $6,327,000.
July 30, 2025 - 30% design plans have been received and are under review by City staff. As part of the design efforts, the proposed raised intersection at 124th Avenue and 123rd Way will not be installed due to inability to properly drain the intersection during rain.
May 15, 2025 - Based on a review of feedback from the May 15, 2025 public meeting, a final concept has been selected and will be used to inform the remainder of the project design. The public meeting information and final concept can be seen in the "2025 Public Meeting and Design Concept" and "2025 Corridor Map" sections near the bottom of this webpage.
May 1, 2025 - A public meeting has been scheduled for May 15, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the City of Thornton Infrastructure Maintenance Center (12450 Washington Street) to provide an update on design alternatives and the status of the project.
January 16, 2025 - Design is underway. Initial survey and traffic data collection has been completed. The consultant is now refining the layout of the roadway so it can be presented to the public. Presentation to the public is anticipated in the spring of 2025.
October 21, 2024 - The contract with the design consultant has been executed. A design kick off meeting is scheduled for October 28, 2024.
August 27, 2024 - The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT has approved awarding to the design consultant. The process to contract with the design consultant is now underway.
May 1, 2024 - The due date for proposals to hire a design consultant was shifted to April 17, 2024. Proposals have been received and a consultant has been selected. Because the project is federally funded through a grant that is administered by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), CDOT must approve awarding to the design consultant. The request for CDOT's approval has been made.
March 15, 2024 - The request for proposals to hire a design consultant will be advertised on March 21, 2024. Proposals are due from consultants by April 12, 2024. Once proposals are received, they will be reviewed and a design consultant will be selected.
March 1, 2024 - A modification has been made to the 124th Avenue & York Street intersection to eliminate the westbound to northbound right turn lane. The intent is to slow traffic making that turning movement and create a safer turn onto York Street. The westbound right turn lane is not necessary for operation of the intersection.
February 23, 2024 - The intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the City of Thornton and the Colorado Department of Transporation (CDOT) for the project's grant funding has been scheduled for City approval at the 4/9/2024 Council meeting. Once approved, the IGA will then be signed by both the City and CDOT.
September 16, 2023 - Speed cushions have been installed on 124th Avenue east of York Street and a raised pedestrian crossing has been installed on 124th Avenue at Stellar Elementary School.
September 9, 2023 - As an alternative to the small temporary roundabout, speed cushions will be installed on 124th Avenue east of York Street. In addition, an asphalt raised pedestrian crossing will be installed in place of the existing crosswalk on 124th Avenue at Stellar Elementary School to improve the visibility of pedestrians while also slowing speed through the crossing area. The speed cushions and the raised pedestrian crossing are scheduled to be installed on Saturday, 9/16/2023, pending weather or anything unforeseen. Installation on Saturday is necessary to avoid impacting traffic to and from Stellar Elementary School.
August 25 and 28, 2023 – A layout of a small temporary roundabout was tested using traffic cones at the 124th Avenue & York Street intersection. The fire department assisted in testing the layout by driving a fire truck on the approaches. This testing revealed a fire truck could not quite make left turns through the layout, so a small temporary roundabout will not be installed. A large roundabout is still being considered for the intersection as part of the multimodal corridor project design that will kick off in the second half of 2024. Other options for interim speed reduction through the York Street area are being considered.
August 24, 2023 – A public meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the City of Thornton Infrastructure Maintenance Center to inform the public about the Transportation Improvement Program grant funding received for the project and to obtain initial public input.
August 24, 2023 – The process has been initiated with the Colorado Department of Transportation to establish the agreement for the grant funds. The agreement is anticipated to be fully executed by June 2024.
Timeline
The grant funding will be available in the Fall of 2024. Based on the funding availability, the tentative timeline for the project is as follows (subject to change):
Execute funding agreement
June 2024
Design, additional public meetings/engagement, environmental study
October 2024 through October 2025
Right-of-way acquisition for the first two phases (if needed)
November 2025 through October 2026
Bidding and construction of the first two phases
November 2026 through October 2027
Seek funding opportunities for future phases
Ongoing
Background
The Eastlake Station Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Master Plan was adopted in February 2009. This TOD Master Plan called for the city to develop a traffic calming plan for 124th Avenue. Two public meetings were held in March 2009 to develop, receive public input, and refine the traffic calming plan. The plan identified enhancements to pedestrian and bicycle facilities and traffic calming enhancements to address speeding. The plan was unofficially titled the “124th Avenue Speed Reduction Plan”. However, the plan essentially changes 124th Avenue to a multimodal corridor and was retitled the “124th Avenue Multimodal Corridor” project.
In 2023, Thornton applied for a Transportation Improvement Program grant to start designing and constructing the project. The total project cost submitted under the grant is $6,327,000 ($5,694,300 grant / $632,700 matching city funds). In August 2023, a public meeting was held to introduce the grant-funded project and start the public input process. The conceptual cross-sections (road layout from north to south) and corridor map of conceptual locations and types of traffic calming identified in 2009 were updated and presented at that August 2023 meeting.
As the project goes through the formal design process, these concepts are subject to change based on public engagement, site constraints, and available budget.
