Agenda Date: 09/15/2026
Subject:
Title
Resolution 65-2026: Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation regarding a financial contribution for conducting the Bowles Avenue Corridor Study
Body
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From: |
James L. Becklenberg, City Manager |
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Prepared by: |
Brent Soderlin, Director of Public Works & Utilities |
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Ray Hill, Interim City Engineer |
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Kenna Davis, Senior Transportation Planner |
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Presentations: |
N/A |
PURPOSE:
Approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) regarding a financial contribution for conducting the Bowles Avenue Corridor Study.
LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED:
Safe Community
DISCUSSION:
The Bowles Avenue corridor, from Santa Fe Drive to Sheridan Boulevard, experiences frequent congestion, lacks safe and comfortable multimodal facilities, has visibility concerns, and right-of-way constraints, and unpredictable access control. As one of the main east-west connections between Jefferson County and western Littleton across the South Platte River and to Santa Fe Drive, Bowles Avenue is an important connection to Downtown Littleton, regional transit, and the eastern side of Littleton and Arapahoe County. The City of Littleton applied and was awarded a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) grant from the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) to conduct a corridor study along Bowles Avenue. The city was successful in receiving $599,000 in grant funding, which requires a $149,750 local match, for a total project cost of $748,750. The grant funds are administered through the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). And funding is available in Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2027-28. The study is required to have a consultant selected and project kickoff meeting held by September 30, 2027. This IGA is an agreement with the CDOT for dispersal of these grant funds.
BACKGROUND:
The Bowles Avenue corridor within the City of Littleton experiences frequent congestion. Residents along the corridor have expressed multiple concerns about a lack of comfortable multimodal facilities, speeding, congestion, and a lack of visibility for side street access onto Bowles Avenue. As one of the main east-west connections between Jefferson County and western Littleton across the South Platte River and to Santa Fe Drive, Bowles Avenue is an important connection to Downtown Littleton, regional transit, and the eastern side of Littleton and Arapahoe County. Elements to be analyzed during this corridor study include multimodal safety and access improvements, congestion, right of way constraints, visibility concerns, access control, and corridor continuity.
Multimodal Safety and Access Improvements
The multimodal facilities along Bowles Avenue are inconsistent and many people avoid walking or biking along Bowles Avenue, because they feel uncomfortable being between a roadway with vehicles traveling at an 85th percentile speed of 45 MPH (10 MPH over the signed speed limit) and an 8-foot-high privacy fence.
• The south side alternates between attached and detached sidewalks typically less than five feet wide.
• The north side sidewalk has many gaps. Where sidewalks do exist, they are often not ADA-compliant.
• In winter months, sidewalks are fully shaded, becoming covered with ice and unusable for long durations.
• There are only six designated crossings within the almost two-mile corridor. With missing segments of sidewalks, accessing a safe crossing can add lengthy detours along indirect, suburban style streets.
• Existing crossings lack safety elements like refuge areas and do not meet current ADA standards, such as curb ramps, adequate landing areas, and detectable warning surfaces.
• There are no bicycle accommodation along the entire corridor due to narrow drive lanes and overgrowth of vegetation, resulting in sharing the narrow sidewalks with pedestrians as the only viable space.
• Bicyclists are rarely seen attempting to ride along Bowles Avenue despite the desire expressed by residents to access the Mary Carter Greenway, Downtown Littleton, and the Downtown Light Rail Station.
• Three RTD bus routes traverse this section of Bowles Avenue (routes 29, 36, 59), all of which connect to the Downtown Littleton Light Rail Station. Of the 16 bus stops along the study area, 8 are not ADA accessible, 6 of which are not even connected to a sidewalk. The lack of consistent or ADA accessible sidewalks makes access to bus stops on Bowles Avenue extremely difficult.
Congestion
Bowles Avenue is one of the highest volume roadways within the City of Littleton with an ADT of 26,500 vehicles.
• The Littleton TMP identified Bowles Avenue as having over 5 hours of congestion in an average day, making this roadway segment one of the most congested corridors in the city.
• Bowles Avenue has three bottleneck locations along the corridor at the Platte Canyon Road, Federal Boulevard, and Santa Fe Drive intersections (2019 TMP).
• Most crashes along the corridor are rear-end crashes (50%), which are often a symptom of congestion.
• Corridor congestion will only increase with 2040 city-wide population (+20%) and employment (+28%) projections combined with continued growth to the south (Douglas County) and west (Jefferson County).
Right-of-way Constraints
• The current cross section of Bowles Avenue is two lanes in each direction with painted or raised center medians and narrow left turn lanes, where able to be provided.
• Right-of-way constraints necessitate innovative solutions for adding capacity or expanding the roadway.
• Adding north-side sidewalks on the western half of the study area is severely limited by right-of-way.
• With luxury houses lining both sides of the roadway, obtaining the necessary right-of-way would be an expensive investment for the City of Littleton, requiring displacement of many residents.
Visibility Concerns
Roadway geometry, including vertical and horizontal alignment discrepancies, result in crashes and near misses along the corridor, while fences and landscaping limit side-street visibility. The Bowles Avenue approaches to the Platte Canyon Road intersection experience horizontal and vertical curvature, resulting in unnecessary interruptions in the flow of traffic due to limited visibility.
• Eastbound drivers approaching the Echostar intersection are focused on being in the appropriate lane in advance of the Santa Fe Drive signal one block to the east, often disregarding the signal at Echostar.
• Restrictive right-of-way resulted in fences constructed within sight triangles, such that vehicles need to pull into the path of sidewalks and crossings in order to see potential on-coming traffic adequately.
• The healthy growth of older trees and bushes along the corridor restricts visibility for vehicles turning from side-streets and driveways, and between turning vehicles and sidewalk users.
Access Control
• Due to the current land uses along Bowles Avenue, there are a number of access points, including residential subdivisions, shopping centers, and private drives.
• Many driveways within the residential subdivisions are very close to intersections along Bowles Avenue, causing safety concerns at these access points.
Corridor Continuity
The City of Littleton is 133 years old and many areas of the city, such as the western segment of Bowles Avenue, were built out well in advance of the adjacent portion of Jefferson County immediately to the west.
• Reduced roadway capacity in Littleton delays access to the vital north-south Santa Fe Drive expressway.
• Jefferson County’s section to the west was constructed with ample right-of-way, allowing space for wider sidewalks or shared use paths along the corridor and the ability for future expansion.
• Just east of Santa Fe Drive, Downtown Littleton boasts mixed-use residential, local shops, and pedestrian-oriented facilities in contrast with the car-centric Bowles Avenue corridor.
• Bridging the transition between the west side of the Bowles Avenue and Santa Fe Drive intersection with the east side, and connecting Downtown Littleton to the South Platte River, has been a long-standing desire of residents and city management.
The scope of the Bowles Avenue Multimodal Corridor Study includes preparing a corridor plan that analyzes the existing conditions along the corridor, has robust community input through multiple engagement opportunities, such as in-person events, online surveys, and outreach to existing community groups, to create a set of recommendations and preferred alternatives for the corridor. Analysis and recommendations will cover topics such as:
• Multimodal safety and access improvements
• Improved access to transit along the corridor and to the Downtown Littleton Station
• Parallel bicycle and pedestrian routes
• Right-of-way constraints
• Congestion mitigation
• Visibility concerns, such as medians and improved signage
• Vertical and horizontal geometry improvements
• Access management and control
• Intersection operations
• Current and future land uses
• Economic development opportunities
In addition to the corridor study, early action projects are included within the scope to provide tangible benefits as part of the overall project. These early action projects will focus on easily implementable safety improvements identified during the evaluation of the corridor. This may include restriping of the corridor or, at specific intersections, relocated or modified fencing, improved signage, signal timing, and bicycle and pedestrian projects. Funding set aside for early action projects could also cover such strategies as additional in-depth analysis, developing concept designs or, if appropriate, even work on final design for the chosen recommendations, with construction to occur at a later phase.
Prior Actions or Discussions
• 2023: City Council approval of TIP application, grant application submission, award granted for FFY 2026-2027
• 2025: TIP Amendment granted to push funding to FFY 2027-2028
• December 2025 - August 2026: IGA development with City of Littleton and CDOT
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The city was successful in receiving $599,000 in grant funding, which requires a $149,750 local match, for a total project cost of $748,750. The grant funds are administered through the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
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Funding Source |
Funding Amount |
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TIP Grant |
$599,000 |
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Local Match |
$149,750 |
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Total |
$748,750 |
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the Intergovernmental Agreement.
ALTERNATIVES:
If Council does not approve the IGA, the project would not occur. Leveraging funding from partners for projects such as this is critical to complete projects the city would unlikely be able to afford on its own. Forgoing this opportunity would put Littleton and the region at a significant disadvantage in attaining community goals related to building a safe community, providing comfortable mobility options, and operating an efficient transportation system. Turning down the funds would also put Littleton at significant disadvantage in competing for future transportation funding that is available through CDOT and DRCOG.
PROPOSED MOTION:
Proposed Motion
I move to approve Resolution 65-2026 approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation regarding a financial contribution for conducting the Bowles Avenue Corridor Study.