Impacts to Sand Creek Greenway, Sand Creek Park and trails

With the proposed design, the widening of both the roadway and the sidewalk will impact the southeast corner of the Sand Creek Greenway. To better accommodate pedestrian and cyclist movements, the concrete trail in the Greenway's eastern portion will be realigned. During future construction, signage will be posted for a detour to access the trail.

The widening of both the roadway and the shared-use path will impact the southwest corner of Sand Creek Park. The project includes construction of a new trail connection between the Peoria Street shared-use path and the existing Sand Creek Greenway trail, further improving mobility for non-motorized users.

Additionally, the area north of Sand Creek within the park will be temporarily used for construction staging. This activity will take place in a section of the park that is not typically accessed by the public and will be fully restored to its original condition upon completion of the project.

A gravel driveway will be extended into Sand Creek Park along the east side of Peoria Street to provide safe and limited maintenance access, avoiding potential safety concerns that would arise from using Peoria Street directly. The driveway is expected to be used infrequently, approximately once every 12 to 18 months. This section of the park is not actively used for recreation. It is flat, next to the roadway, and separated topographically from active recreation uses.

The project will require the removal of several trees within Sand Creek Greenway and Sand Creek Park. To mitigate this impact, trees will either be replaced at a 1:1 ratio within the greenway and park or through payment to the City of Aurora’s Community Tree Funds, which supports the initiative Reinvesting in Aurora’s Urban Canopy for Social Equity and Climate Resilience - City of Aurora.

Construction within Sand Creek Greenway and Sand Creek Park is estimated to take about two years. During this time, signage will be posted if detours are required to access the Greenway, Park and associated trails.

Public comments regarding these improvements and impacts to Sand Creek Greenway, Sand Creek Park and trails may be provided to Zach Hribar at zhribar@auroragov.org.