One of the main goals upon approval of the 311 Mapleton development was to disperse construction-related traffic as much as possible so that the impact was shared, rather than one street bearing the brunt. The truck routing plan is in place to provide advanced knowledge to residents of the daily routes of construction vehicles. The plan includes alternate routes to diffuse the daily impact of this traffic.
Prior to the commencement of construction activities in 2019, City staff reviewed and approved the following truck routing plan:
• Monday and Friday: 4th Street to Alpine to Broadway
• Tuesday and Thursday: 4th Street to Pine Street to Broadway
• Wednesday: 4th Street to Dellwood, 9th to Balsam to Broadway
After routing trucks to Pine Street for some time, it was determined to be unsafe as the semi-trucks could not make the turn without causing damage to parked cars and/or completing risky moves such as raising their dumps during the turn.
The development team proposed using Mapleton to 6th to Pine as an alternative route at this time. Ultimately The City concluded that Pine and Mapleton were not viable options for the semi-truck traffic generated by the 311 Mapleton development and identified Dellwood and Alpine as the only suitable routes.
The amended truck routing plan below was reviewed and approved by City staff, and placed into effect as of February 2020:
• Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 4th Street to Dellwood, 9th to Balsam to Broadway
• Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday: 4th Street to Alpine to Broadway
The development team looked into every possible alternative route, physically driving them to determine if trucks can navigate properly. Unfortunately, no other viable options outside of the current truck routing plan exist.
Issues with other streets include:
• Traffic circles
• Too narrow of streets
• Inadequate turning radius
• Not having a traffic signal present at the Broadway intersection