Week of October 13, 2022
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
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LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 34
City, county work to change Lincoln Avenue Public input invited BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In the next few years, Lincoln Avenue could experience some major transformations to help address safety and traffic concerns — but city officials are still deciding what to change and are inviting public input. The deliberation is part of the “Advancing Lincoln Avenue” project, led by the City of Lone Tree in partnership with Douglas County and other local agencies. With the goals of improving operations, safety, traffic congestion and
multimodal travel, the project team is developing a long-term plan for Lincoln Avenue from Park Meadows Drive to Oswego Street, specifically looking at the Interstate 25 interchange and Havana Street intersection. Traffic volumes in the Lincoln Avenue corridor have increased by 50% since 2012, according to one of the project documents. With the anticipated development of RidgeGate East in Lone Tree, additional travel demand in the future is expected. The project team is considering three “improvement alternatives” — which include a proposed change at the I-25 and Lincoln Avenue interchange, and a change at the Havana Street and Lincoln Avenue intersec-
tion. The goal is to select one of the three alternatives by the end of November. In the meantime, residents are invited to share feedback on the proposals. Alternative one The first alternative proposes adding a flyover to the existing partial cloverleaf interchange at I-25 and Lincoln Avenue, said Jon Chesser, a Colorado environmental operations manager at Wilson & Company, during a Sept. 22 public meeting. The flyover would accommodate drivers who are going southbound on I-25 and want to go eastbound on Lincoln Avenue — a critical movement, Chesser said. According to the
Trubucha brewery keeps it real
Trubucha employees take a group selfie after setting up at the South Pearl Street COURTESY OF TRUBUCHA Farmers Market.
Kombucha business holds line on prices BY RACHEL LORENZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
project’s presentation, approximately 40% of drivers taking this exit are headed east toward Parker. Under this alternative, drivers could exit I-25 southbound and take the flyover to head east directly without any stops, Chesser said. “What this also provides is a grade-separated interchange at Havana. Currently at Havana, you have a signalized at-grade intersection,” Chesser said. An “at-grade intersection” refers to when two or more roads are at the same height and cross one another. A “grade-separated interchange” means that the streets are at different heights and one road is above SEE LINCOLN, P13
Lone Tree council supports six ballot measures Schools and open space accepted
Like most business owners, Marc Gaudreault has seen inflation drive up the cost of goods this year. But the founder of Trubucha, a kombucha brewery in Lone Tree, has been loath to pass it on to customers in the form of higher prices. Instead Gaudreault decided the answer for his company was increasing volume. “It wasn’t trying to make more profit off the same person,” Gaudreault said of his approach. “It was trying to provide more product for more people out there.” Trubucha started in 2016 when Gaudreault turned his hobby of brewing kombucha at home into a business and began selling the fizzy fermented drink at farmers markets. In December 2017, he opened the Trubucha taproom and production facility in a 2,000-square-foot space about two miles south of Park Meadow mall. Trubucha continued production during the pandemic and saw a rise in the popularity of farmers markets which, unlike some other outdoor events, were considered essential businesses akin to grocery stores. To increase volume, Gaudreault said he could go to more farmers markets — or offer a larger variety
Ballot issue 1A: Open space tax One of the questions the city council supports a yes vote for is ballot issue 1A, which asks for voter approval to extend a 0.17% Douglas County sales and use tax for parks, trails, historic resources and open space. The 0.17% tax is part of Douglas County’s 1% sales and use tax and was approved by voters in 1994. If no action is taken, the tax will sunset in 2024. “I think accessible open space is a very important issue,” said Mayor Jackie Millet, explaining the value it offers for mental and physical health. “As Lone Tree continues to grow, one of the things we’re most proud of is the amount of land that’s been preserved for open space.”
SEE BREWERY, P8
SEE BALLOT, P2
BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Lone Tree City Council formally supported six November ballot measures on Oct. 4 by approving resolutions that support a yes vote on questions 1A, 1B, 2B, 5A, 5B and Proposition 123.