US 285 at Kings Valley
About the Project
This project will design a grade-separated interchange at US 285 and Kings Valley Drive located in Conifer, Colorado. This interchange improvement will eliminate at-grade left-turn movements in and out of Kings Valley Drive and will increase safety, performance, and operations at this intersection. The design is underway and expected to be complete in early 2024.
CDOT Region 1 recognizes the US 285 and Kings Valley Drive Interchange Project as a regional priority project and identifies it as such in the CDOT 10-Year Plan. Review the CDOT 10-Year Plan, Region 1 listing under “US 285 Improvements near Pine Junction.”
Project Facts
Cost: Based on preliminary design, the interchange is expected to cost $35 million.
Construction funding for the Kings Valley Interchange project is not available at this time, but CDOT is actively pursuing all funding avenues to fully fund and construct this project. To date, $5.7 million of FASTER Safety funds and $1M of Senate Bill 267 funds are allocated for this project.
Schedule: Design anticipated to be completed by early 2024. Construction is to be determined.
In 2002, CDOT completed a feasibility study of the 53-mile corridor of US 285 from Foxton Road to Fairplay to identify future project needs based on future traffic volumes and patterns. The study identified a wide range of improvement possibilities, ranging from small, localized enhancements to major widening of segments. This plan was finalized in an Environmental Assessment (EA) in 2004 and concluded that US-285 should be widened to four lanes in addition to the following improvements:
- Richmond Hill Interchange
- Kings Valley Interchange
- Shaffers Crossing / Elk Creek Interchange
- Parker Road Interchange
- Deer Creek Interchange
- County Road (CR) 43A Interchange (by Developer)
- Pine Junction Interchange
- Mountain View Park-and-Ride Interchange
- Crow Hill Runaway Truck Ramp
Since 2004, the improvements at Richmond Hill (completed in 2007), Deer Creek (completed in 2009) and Shaffers Crossing (completed in 2011), as well as widening between Foxton Road and Richmond Hill are complete. These early phase improvements were selected because due to a serious crash history.
The next improvement from the 2004 EA to will be the Kings Valley Interchange. Due to increased traffic volumes along the US 285 corridor as well as development-induced traffic volumes that have occurred at Kings Valley Drive since the completion of the EA, this location has seen a recent increase in safety related crashes, including serious and fatal crashes.
In late 2019 and during the re-evaluation effort, CDOT became aware of changed conditions at the project site since the completion of the 2004 EA, which include a historic property (i.e. Conley Coffee Shop), a historic district, and a conservation easement (Mountain Area Land Trust). An alternatives analysis effort in 2021 identified an alternative that reduces impacts to historic properties while still meeting the purpose and need of the project. Design is underway on this new alternative.
