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Summit County drafts initial plans for Summit Cove Loop Project

Summit County has drafted plans for phase one of the Summit Cove Loop Project, a series of road improvements that will add pedestrian and bike lanes.
Summit County / Special to the Daily |

Summit Cove residents can look forward to new roads with a fresh coat of paint by the end of the summer. On Tuesday, Summit County Commissioners decided to proceed with phase one of the Summit Cove Loop Project, a series of improvements designed to fix damaged roads in the neighborhood while adding bike and pedestrian lanes.

“One of the main issues out there is that we have a lot of wide roads with no striping,” said Summit County planner Kate Berg. “As a result we have some high vehicle speeds through the neighborhood.”

For phase one, workers will repave Summit Drive, from the Cove Boulevard intersection to the Hideaway Court intersection. Plans include paving 4 feet worth of lanes for bikers and pedestrians on both sides, with striping to mark the main roadway. Much-needed repairs will also be made on side streets connected to the loop, including Idlewild Drive, Vail Circle, Meadow Drive and Hideaway Court.



“During our public outreach process for this project, Summit Cove residents made it clear that there is a big demand for repairs to these side roads,” County Commissioner Thomas Davidson said in a statement. “We’ll realize cost savings and minimize impacts to residents by doing that work in conjunction with the addition of the bicycle/pedestrian lanes on Summit Drive.”

Construction workers will move back mailboxes on Summit Drive 2 feet, so that they will not interfere with planned bike lanes. However, this should not affect residents’ ability to receive mail during construction.



The estimated cost for phase one of the project comes in at $1.23 million, with an estimated $900,000 for improvements to Summit Drive and $330,000 for repairs to the adjacent roads.

Commissioners have already budgeted $500,000 for the project this year from the existing Summit County Road and Bridge Fund. They plan to pull money from the reserve to cover the remaining $730,000 needed to complete phase one.

Assistant county manager Thad Noll said that the bulk of the cost will be used for road maintenance.

“A big chunk of this is that we need to resurface these roads,” Noll said. “It makes sense to us to say, it would be good to do this in one section.”

He added that construction would impact residents less if completed in one stretch.

Commissioners will work on construction drawings and go to bid by April 15, and hope to pick a contractor by May 15. After a contractor for phase one is chosen, county officials will hold an open house at Summit Cove Elementary in late May or early June to discuss design and construction details. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid to late June, and end in September.

Berg said plans for future phases would be determined based on the time and cost of the first phase, which is the simplest, most cost-effective segment of the project.


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