Watkins Farm residents press Arapahoe County for road repairs, signage and funding

Two Watkins Farm residents told the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners on July 8 that neighborhood roads need repairs and safety improvements and that Road and Bridge lacks funding to address the problems.

Susan Bockenfeld (recorded as "Susan Bakenfeld" in parts of the transcript) said she represents roughly 63 households east of Watkins Road and Sixth Avenue and described widespread cracking in neighborhood streets. "Anything that was over 8 inches wide," she said, "26 pictures. I've got a couple of pictures here that I will leave with you." She told commissioners the neighborhood's roads "have not been repaired since 2010," and that residents have submitted repair requests over the past four years with shifting timelines for work.

Becky Roberts described two serious crashes at the sharp right curve at Sixth Avenue and In Bowden Road, saying one crash in 2021 required a flight-for-life airlift and another in 2023 resulted in a car leaving the road and landing in a front yard. Roberts said the subdivision's monument at the curve has been struck twice and that residents have requested white reflective edge striping, a yellow curve-ahead warning sign, and a lighted stop sign at the northbound approach on In Bowden at Sixth Avenue.

Roberts said Road and Bridge staff acknowledged the requests were forwarded to the traffic division and to striping/marking supervisors but that the departments did not respond to residents. She said Doug Stern told her Road and Bridge has not had a funding increase in decades and currently lacks available funds for the requested work. Bockenfeld and Roberts urged the county to allocate funds and suggested that votersapproved refunds from a November 2024 measure referenced by the speaker as "1a" could be used to increase the Road and Bridge budget.

The speakers framed the requests as safety issues and asked commissioners to visit the site at night to see the lack of street lighting, striping and signage. No formal board action was recorded during public comment; the remarks were entered into the record for follow-up.