South Broadway will experience lane closures near Denver starting Sunday evening as the City of Littleton works to both replace a culvert and construct a pedestrian walkway. “Significant” traffic impacts are expected through spring 2026, and the broader project is expected to be complete by fall of 2026.
City officials said they can accomplish two things at once, as replacing the culvert will require crews to dig a 30-foot trench into Broadway. That will allow them the opportunity to add a pedestrian underpass in the area of Broadway and Dry Creek Road.
“It’s a big project. It is a project that normally is something that’s a 5- to 10-year scale, and the fact that we’re under construction in less than a year with the funding in place is (a) tremendous effort,” Littleton Water Resources Engineer Sarah White said.
A series of sinkholes in the area in 2023 prompted the city to undertake a massive investigation into its infrastructure, White said. In at least one of those, a car fell into the sinkhole. That means city officials are now “triaging” which pipes need repair or replacement. Broadway was the most heavily trafficked road in the city, making it priority one.
The work will involve opening the road itself and excavating the area around it, replacing the pipe, and adding more soil.
The pedestrian walkway is something that city officials say has been asked for by city residents for years, especially after at least one tragic death of a 7th grader who was riding his bike. A walkway in the area was actually also in a master plan for the city going back to the 1970s.
At least one lane will be open in each direction at all times.
Residents and commuters can keep up with traffic impacts at LittletonCO.gov/ConeZone.
Just west of the area of this work, the city is also working on revamping its downtown, closer to South Santa Fe Drive, to make that area more pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly.
