Construction on the long-awaited project to build safer interchanges at the U.S. 34 Bypass intersections at 35th and 47th avenues is projected to begin as early as fall 2026, after the Greeley City Council pushed to expedite the project.
Public Works Deputy Director Bhooshan Karnik and project manager George Tsiouvaras provided an update to city council about the Mobility Expansion for Regional Growth, or MERGE, project on Tuesday. A top priority for the city since 2015, voters last November approved the city issuing $65 million in debt for the project.
After the city council was critical of the project timeline at their last update in February, city staff worked to expedite the project, they said during Tuesday’s update.
Under the new timeline, several pre-development projects, such as design and eminent domain approvals, will be completed earlier than initially planned, allowing construction to be accelerated as well. As a result of this accelerated timeline, the project is now anticipated to be completed in March 2029, as opposed to the end of 2029 as initially planned.
“We are aware that the city council has asked to accelerate the construction schedule, and one of the things that we’re proposing with our schedule here is to move up construction as early as the latter part of 2026, which is a pretty substantial reduction in the amount of time,” Tsiouvaras said. “We think that will make a big difference to the overall project and budget.”
As the project start date approaches, the city intends to ramp up its communication efforts about the project. Katie Angel from HDR — a global company specializing in engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services that is also part of this project — believes that such communication will be essential.
“Overall, we want no surprises and we want to make sure that our public and community, and our stakeholders, are educated and aware of this project in the improvements moving forward,” Angel said. “We believe that a robust communications and public engagement plan will be critical to the success of this project in building consensus and community support.”
Community outreach will span multiple forms of social media and include in-person events and virtual engagement opportunities, starting between July and September, Angel said.
An area of contention between the council and city staff arose regarding the city’s plan to seek approval for eminent domain in July. As part of the MERGE project, the city will need to acquire property along the project’s boundary that is owned by upwards of 20 different landowners.
The city has yet to reach out and begin negotiations with these landowners, but city officials want to start the process of eminent domain if it needs to be utilized to keep the project on its accelerated schedule.
Councilman Brett Payton took issue with this idea, as he said the city would essentially be asking the council to approve a general eminent domain order that could be applied to whatever purpose they needed it for.
Both Payton and Councilman Johnny Olson expressed opposition to the idea, with Payton saying that if the city requests that, they should “expect some pushback from council.”
Olson said he wouldn’t approve any requests for eminent domain unless the process became better defined.
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