The City of Grand Junction's Public Works Department has developed this book as an overview of the next five years. Feedback from an informed public is vital to the success of these projects. This book was created for you and your neighbors to help you understand the sometimes complicated tasks.

City Engineers have used growth projections for the next 20 years to prioritize and design the streets we need to continue to grow gracefully. These projects will focus on keeping our traffic flowing smoothly, widening of streets, replacement of outdated utilities, and the creation of new roads and intersections.

By outlining the major projects you may see in the next five years, this book will help you plan your daily commute to work and answer questions you may have about future development in your area.

In 1996, after substantial public input and advice of Citizen Steering Committees, City Council adopted a Growth Plan for Grand Junction. The plan created an image of the community our citizens hope to enjoy in the future. It also provides a road map through goals and policies to help decision-makers act appropriately when they envision the future of our city.

The Growth Plan expresses community values, ideals and aspirations about the best management of our resources. Included in the spirit of the Plan are the values that the citizens of Grand Junction hold dear; maintaining the high quality of our natural environment; maintaining public services and cultural resources, and enhancing a strong sense of community.

Although not always in the spotlight, streets and drainage are an important factor in the quality of life we enjoy each day. The Growth Plan considers all modes of transportation, and how we can maintain the beauty of our city without sacrificing the important role of our streets. Gateways and high visibility corridors are bring considered to best serve community residents and businesses.

The Growth Plan outlines many goals which staff and Council use to manage changes in the community while still maintaining our quality of life.

On January 12, 1999, the Grand Junction Planning Commission took the first step toward developing a four-stage major street plan for the urban area of the Grand Valley. The four steps are identified as:

1. Adopting a functional classification map, which helps to classify streets according to their level of use and amount of traffic.
2. Developing access management plans and strategies.
3. Re-evaluating existing streets and identifying strengths and weaknesses.
4. Developing the ultimate right-of-way needs for streets identified in the plan.

Traffic modeling is an important tool that helps us to understand the potential impacts of traffic over time. It provides engineers with a way of evaluating certain actions, such as increasing traffic on the street system. Special computer programs are used to estimate trips between key traffic analysis zones.

Because of these models and projections, we see a real need to improve our streets and intersections before traffic becomes too congested.

Public Works and Utilities Projects (funded by our ¾ percent Capital Improvement Program) are annually reviewed and prioritized during budget review. During this time, we must decide which projects will take precedent. To help us decide, we look at the following criteria:

1. Planning for future growth, using our Growth Plans and adopted zoning, and long- range transportation studies, such as the "West Metro" and "North/South Corridor" studies.
2. Citizen requests for improvements.
3. Existing or future needs for additional traffic.
4. Needs for safety improvements and elimination of hazards. Accident history and substandard facilities help us to determine these needs.

We also take into account the costs of these projects, the availability of grants and outside funding sources are considered.

• A citizen participation program is developed to involve property owners, utility companies and others who may be affected by the project.
• Surveys and topographic maps of the project area are prepared.
• Rights-of-way, easements and ownership of properties in the vicinity are researched.
• Preliminary design studies, including development and analysis of alternatives.
• Geo-technical studies, including groundwater and soil investigations are completed.
• Recommendations for final design are formulated and presented to citizens, the City Council and other authorities, based on the results of preliminary design studies.
• Final design is selected, and detailed construction drawings and specifications are completed.

• Negotiations and legal processes for acquisition of rights-of-way and easements are conducted.
• Relocation of utilities are planned, scheduled and coordinated with utility companies.
• Public participation programs are continued, informing anyone who may be interested in or affected by the project.

• Final revisions are made to construction drawings and bid documents.
• The project is advertised for bidding by pre-qualified contractors.
• Bids are opened and evaluated. A recommendation is made for the award of the construction contract.
• City Council awards the construction contract.
• Construction begins. City Engineers perform quality assurance inspection and material testing for all phases of construction.

29 Road and I-70B

Development Manuals