In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, all Douglas County Government offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 27, and Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Offices will reopen on Monday, Dec. 1, for normal business. Many County services are available 24/7 by visiting online services.
Under Construction
Updated October 29, 2025:
Construction started on January 27, 2025. The three truss bridges were successfully placed overnight from Saturday September 27 to Sunday 28, and the contractor is continuing progress on the project, anticipated to be completed on or before December 31, 2025.
Beginning October 30 for approximately two weeks, the pedestrian bridge will be temporarily open for pedestrians and cyclists to cross over University Boulevard while crews complete final tie-in work below the bridge. During this work, pedestrians and cyclists wishing to connect to University Boulevard will need to use the Service Street parking lot from the west side or the end of the pedestrian bridge from the east side. After the final tie-in work is complete, the pedestrian bridge will reclose, and pedestrians and cyclists will need to use the detour (detailed below) until construction is complete in December.
In order to build the new pedestrian bridge, crews have built a pedestrian detour. Cyclists will be required to dismount and walk through the area. Cyclists and pedestrians should slow down and follow signage through the area. This detour will remain in place throughout the project. View the pedestrian detour.
Cyclists that prefer to avoid the work area entirely, may follow this alternate route Be advised that this route is longer and includes a mix of sidewalk and bikes lanes.
Douglas County and CDOT are partnering on advancing the construction of the C-470 Trail & University Blvd. Pedestrian Grade Separation Project. The objective of the project is to construct a grade separation for bicyclists and pedestrians using the C-470 Trail to cross over University Boulevard. The new bridge will improve pedestrian and cyclist safety by eliminating the need for users of the C-470 Trail to cross University Blvd. at-grade, which currently requires four (4) separate roadway crossings, across a total of eight (8) lanes of traffic. The proposed grade separated C-470 Trail crossing will also improve traffic operations, since the numerous bicyclists and pedestrians currently crossing at-grade, adversely impact signal progression along University Blvd. and traffic entering or exiting the C-470 ramps, especially on the weekends when trail use is highest.
In the summer of 2020, CDOT and the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) announced the Safer Main Streets Initiative which is a state and/or federal funding opportunity focusing on improving safety and multimodal transportation options. On March 19, 2021, Douglas County was notified by CDOT that the C-470 Trail & University Blvd. Pedestrian Grade Separation Project was selected to receive $5.12 Million in state funds, which will fund a portion of the project.
While preliminary design was advanced, Douglas County and CDOT staff negotiated specific project responsibilities which are included in an IGA that was approved by the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners in September 2022. The C-470 Trail is a CDOT asset and will continue to be owned, operated, and maintained by CDOT including the improvements to be constructed as part of this project. However, some project enhancements are being incorporated into the design above and beyond what is typically required by CDOT to reduce long term maintenance burden and increase the structure’s service life. The project is anticipated to be substantially completed on or before December 31, 2025.
