E. Costilla Blvd Traffic Calming Project Underway
What is the background on this project? In March of 2019, the WHCA applied to the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) for East Costilla Blvd between East Costilla Ave and S. Unita Street. We had heard a concern from a neighbor that the traffic volume and speeds in this area were a problem. The City conducted traffic counts and monitored speeds for 48 hours along this stretch of road and found that there were 777 cars in a 24 hour period with an average speed of 30 mph. This section of road has a posted speed limit of 25 mph. Because of these factors, in addition to the street being next to a school, the project became eligible for NTMP. In late 2019, the WHCA was notified that the project had been accepted into the program and was one of four projects to be selected. Total, the project received $37,500 in funding.
What are the next steps? The next step in this exciting process is to gather neighborhood input. All of the Walnut Hills neighbors are important and have a voice, but because of the way the program is set up, the adjacent neighbors are ESPECIALLY important moving forward! The City of Centennial will be setting up the 1st Public Meeting the week of February 17, 2020. This meeting will introduce the NTMP program and is a listening session for the neighbors to decide what kind of traffic calming will be appropriate, what uses are occurring in the area, what concerns there are, etc. The City will use this information to develop a recommendation to present to the neighbors at the second Public Meeting most likely to be held in April. Notifications will be sent to the effected neighbors and the WHCA. Meeting location is yet to be determined, but the information will be distributed as soon as possible. Please be on the look out for information regarding this program on the WHCA website at www.walnuthillscolorado.org.
Why are the effected/adjacent neighbors so important? Because these residents are anticipated to have to utilize/cross what ever traffic calming device is selected each time they leave their homes. While other neighbors will no doubt utilize/cross it, they will have alternate routes that would allow them to bypass the traffic calming devise. Please see the DRAFT of the Area of Effected Neighbors Map. If your home is shown as an effected neighbor, please participate in the development of this program! Ultimately, the developed traffic calming devise shown at Public Meeting #2 with be voted on by ONLY the effected neighbors. Ballots will be sent to the homeowners via mail. A minimum of 50% of the ballots must be returned to the City and of those 2/3 must be a yes vote for the project to move forward. Please note, not returning a ballot counts as a ‘no’ vote! If the ballot count and vote count is not received the project stops and Walnut Hills will not be able to apply for this section of road again for 3 years.
Important Dates:
1st Public Meeting – the week of February 17, 2020 – Listening Session
2nd Public Meeting – anticipated April, 2020 – Recommendation and neighbor consensus
Ballots to effected homeowners
Tally of Ballots – 50% must be returned to the City and of those returned 2/3 must be a ‘yes’ vote.
Project construction (if approved by effected neighbors) – 2021 (to coincide with Southgate improvements)
