27th Street Storm Interceptor Project

27th Street will be closed to traffic in sections up to two blocks at a time, between Arapahoe and California Streets. Traffic will be detoured onto adjacent streets as needed, but residential, business and pedestrian access will be maintained via secondary access points or through the construction zone.

Existing water lines and sanitary sewer lines will need to be relocated to accommodate the new storm sewer pipe.  Businesses and residences along 27th Street (between Arapahoe and California Streets) will have temporary water and sewer disruptions to complete the relocation work. Advance notice will be provided to those who will be impacted.

Storm drainage systems are far beneath the surface of city streets, and thus require shoring of the excavation sites to ensure the safety of the workers below. There are many types and methods of shoring that have been used on previous stormwater projects — some of these methods are more invasive than others. Sheet piling and beam and lagging shoring systems are examples of shoring methods that are more invasive. Slide rail and trench boxes are examples of the less invasive shoring systems. 

This phase of the 27th St. Storm Interceptor project is far less complicated than Phase 1, thus it is likely that the contractor will be using minimally invasive shoring methods combining the use of slide rail systems and trench boxes. We do not anticipate that the contractor will need to use sheet piling or beam and lagging to complete this project, and therefore we do not anticipate any vibration issues on Phase 2.

There will be a monitoring system in place, similar to what was in place on Phase 1. Anyone with questions or concerns about vibration issues can contact the CCD project manager, Aaron McMichael, to resolve the issue.

The 27th Street Storm Interceptor project is one of several large-diameter storm drain projects to relieve drainage and flooding issues in the Five Points and Curtis Park neighborhoods and the RiNo Art District. Currently in this area, stormwater runoff drains to the South Platte River at the over-burdened 36th Street Outfall, leading to flooding during storms. When complete, the new storm drain system will connect to an existing 108-inch storm drain at Coors Field Parking Garage at Blake Street, balancing water flow between multiple systems and resulting in less flooding along the 27th and Washington Street corridors.

Phase 3 and additional future phases of the project are still in design, but the alignment is expected to run from the end of Phase 2 down California Street to 26th Ave, southeast along 26th Ave to Washington Street and continue south down Washington Street toward 20th Ave. These future phases are still seeking funding approval. 

The 27th Street Storm Drain project was first identified in the 2005 Stormwater Master Plan. This project is a high priority focus stormwater basin and was included in the 2016-2021 Six-Year Capital Improvement program.