Wheat Ridge approves nearly $5 million for 35th Avenue, Tabor designs

Wheat Ridge City Council approved up to $2.05 million for design work on 35th Avenue and up to $2.91 million for the Tabor Street multimodal project on Oct. 26. The contracts fund planning and design, not construction, and the projects have different paths toward construction, the city’s meeting record shows.

The council approved JR Engineering’s 35th Avenue contract for up to $2,046,493 and Muller Engineering’s Tabor Street contract for up to $2,910,174, both including contingency.

The 35th Avenue design covers about 1.5 miles between Sheridan Boulevard and Wadsworth Boulevard. It will address sidewalk gaps, pedestrian access and traffic safety, with possible sidewalks, bicycle markings, traffic calming and intersection improvements. The city’s project summary also describes extending the neighborhood bikeway and improving walking and biking connections.

Staff said the city has not identified construction funding for 35th Avenue, so completing the design would not commit the city to building the improvements.

The Tabor Street design will address walking and biking connections from Clear Creek Trail to the north I-70 frontage road, as well as traffic calming, drainage, lighting and utility coordination. It will also evaluate improvements to the existing Tabor Street bridge over I-70. The city’s Tabor project summary describes the corridor’s multimodal connections and bridge-crossing design.

Staff expects the Tabor design to be completed in 2027, with construction anticipated to start in 2028, depending on right-of-way needs and continued coordination with the Colorado Department of Transportation. A separate proposed pedestrian bridge over I-70 remains unfunded; its design and relationship to the existing bridge have not been settled, staff said at the meeting.