Project Breaks Ground

Littleton leaders and regional partners broke ground on the Santa Fe and Mineral Improvements Project November 19, kicking off the project to build an innovative “quad road” at the congested intersection.

Following years of public outreach, planning, and design, the intersection of South Santa Fe Drive and West Mineral Avenue will see major improvements aimed at reducing traffic delays and improving safety.

With as many as 60,000 vehicles per day on Santa Fe and 30,000 on Mineral, drivers can currently experience delays of up to 20 minutes during peak times. If the intersection were to remain in the current configuration, delays would become significantly worse given traffic volumes are projected to grow to 115,000 vehicles per day through the intersection by 2040 due to anticipated future development in the region.

To address these issues, the city is constructing a new “quadrant roadway” in the southwest corner of the intersection. This innovative design will remove left turn movements from the intersection and reroute left-turning traffic onto a separate roadway, freeing up green-light time for through movements and improving overall flow.