56th Avenue is an east-west arterial that borders the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (RMANWR) on the south side and is an essential route between Downtown Denver and the Denver International Airport. This route also serves several neighborhoods, including Montbello with is adjacent to and south of 56th Ave. The 56th Avenue Widening Design-Build Project for the City and County of Denver expands the current roadway section from two lanes to a median-separated five-lane section
between Peoria and Pena Boulevard to improve the capacity and operation of the corridor.
The other primary goals of the project include improved safety along the corridor, improved connectivity from the neighborhoods to the RMANWR, and aesthetic improvements within the right of way to transition from the developed areas to the south to the natural areas on the north. Shrewsberry partnered with Ames Construction, served as the prime consultant on the design-build team for 56th Avenue Widening, and provided proposal phase roadway design, landscape architecture, and aesthetic design services for three miles of improvements from Pena Boulevard to Peoria Boulevard. Shrewsberry also designed a 10-foot multi-use path north of 56th, enhancing pedestrian connectivity for non-vehicle-based recreation and transportation.
Engineering design services and elements for the project included roadway and pavement design, hydraulic analysis and drainage design, utility coordination and relocation, street lighting and signal design, maintenance of traffic, landscape architecture design, public outreach and coordination, and environmental documentation and permitting. The project also includes concessions for a future build-out, which will widen the roadway section to six lanes as funding becomes available.
