Miami-Hillcrest Roundabout Project

Project Summary

  • Location: Intersection of Miami Road and Hillcrest Drive
  • Designer: Felsburg, Holt, and Ullevig (Centennial, CO)
  • Contractor: K&D Construction (Grand Junction, CO)
  • Final Construction Cost: $1.6M
  • Completed: October 2019

Project Overview

As part of a long-range traffic planning effort and in response to neighborhood petitions, congestion, and safety issues experienced through the corridor, the city performed a traffic study of Hillcrest Drive from Main to Niagara back in 2016. This study recommended the installation of roundabouts at the intersections of Miami, Sunnyside, and Niagara as both the near- and long-term solution to these issues.  

In response to these recommendations, the city designed and constructed the first of these three roundabouts at Sunnyside and Hillcrest in the summer of 2016. Sunnyside was chosen to receive the first roundabout as this intersection was experiencing the worst delays and the city already owned all of the right of way necessary to construct the roundabout. The other two intersections both required the purchase of additional right of way, which typically turns into a multi-year process.

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Shortly after completion of the Sunnyside project, the city began designing the roundabout at Miami and Hillcrest. Property acquisitions for the project began in 2018 following the completion of the roundabout’s preliminary design and establishment of its footprint. Right of way or easements were acquired from seven different landowners alongside the new roundabout. The final design and all property acquisitions were completed in January 2019.

The original Miami/Hillcrest intersection was at a skew, requiring the roundabout to be approximately 20 feet larger in diameter than the roundabout at Sunnyside. This larger diameter met geometric design standards for accommodating large tractor-trailer vehicles that could pass through the corridor for local deliveries. Below-ground utilities were constructed, realigned, or replaced within the project area, including irrigation supply infrastructure, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water, communications lines, undergrounding of overhead power, the installation of new street lights, and power/water services to the roundabout center island to allow for landscaping that can be lit during the holidays (similar to Sunnyside).