A transportation project in the works for Aurora looks to do exactly what its new name “Connecting Aurora” says: create a master plan for all types of mobility around the city. 

That includes bicycles, pedestrians, public transportation, freight and cars.

Aurora city staff presented updates on the project at last week’s Transportation, Airports and Public Works Committee meeting, led by Councilmember Stephanie Hancock.

The project’s intention is to develop a city-wide master plan for multimodal transportation, which will act as a guide for transportation projects to help the growing city develop and maintain accessible options for getting around, according to meeting documents.

While the kickoff meeting for the project happened in late September, committee members last week heard an update on the status of an existing-conditions analysis, public engagement framework and project identity.

Keith Borsheim, an HDR transportation planner, said city officials have been working hard the last several months, really putting the wheels to pavement on the project back in October. HDR is the traffic, transportation, planning and engineering group company hired by the city. 

One of their biggest developments has been in project identity, Borsheim said, having developed a logo and name, “Connecting Aurora,” which he said represents the goals of the project. 

The team is in the “discover” phase, the first of four phases, which includes doing an existing conditions analysis to give them a sense for the scope of existing transportation in the city, and identifying and analyzing future trends – which includes city and technology growth. 

A vital part of the project’s beginning is engagement, he said. As they get deeper into planning, they will hold workshops and community meetings to get a sense for what stakeholders want to see and ensure there is active communication about progress on the plan. 

The team will hold a workshop to look at the existing conditions analysis, which is ongoing as part of the first phase, at the end of April and will come back with a draft of goals and visions to run by community members and other stakeholders, he said.

The project is being funded through the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) transportation improvement program, with over $2.5 million in state funding, almost $1 million in federal funding and almost $650,000 in city funds, making a total budget of over $3 million.

The Transportation, Airports and Public Works Committee originally approved the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the City of Aurora and the Colorado Department of Transportation in March of 2023. It was then approved by the City Council in April and signed by Mayor Mike Coffman in May.