More than a year after the original deadline passed, several new roads in Grand Park could soon open to traffic.

Winter Park and Fraser have given preliminary approval for three sections of road, including the Kings Crossing extension, Grand Park Drive from Kings Crossing extension to Old Victory Road, and Old Victory Road from Grand Park Drive to Kings Crossing, which has been renamed Telemark Drive.

Preliminary acceptance happens once construction is complete and roads are safe to drive on. However, an agreement between Winter Park, Fraser and Grand Park is still in the works and will be needed to open the roads to traffic.

“If it were just between Fraser and the developer, we would use the preliminary acceptance documents (to open the roads), but because Winter Park is also a partner, we needed a separate agreement for all three entities,” Fraser Town Manager Ed Cannon said. “Typically for any public infrastructure dedication, (Fraser) requires them to be fully complete before we do the preliminary acceptance.”

Construction issues on the portion of the roads in Fraser, including subgrade and manhole concerns, delayed the roads past the original deadline of Dec. 15, 2020, set by a settlement agreement that ended a court battle between Fraser, Winter Park and Grand Park.

“We’ve identified some items that aren’t complete to our satisfaction, so it creates a little more complications for us to accept the roads,” Cannon said.

In the Dec. 1 Fraser town board meeting, Cannon noted that Grand Park Developer Clark Lipscomb paved portions of the road without town approval, causing staff to backtrack to ensure the roads met town standards.

“We’ve been doing almost weekly inspections since almost September to make sure the roads meet the standards,” Cannon said.

Winter Park Town Manager Keith Riesberg said the portions of the roads constructed in Winter Park were done to the town’s satisfaction, though not necessarily on time.

Under the agreement, Winter Park was required to put $825,000 in escrow until the roads were complete. The town still holds about $20,000 in escrow for minor construction improvements, including the completion of curb and gutter work on the Kings Crossing extension and improving earth work on Grand Park Drive to Telemark Drive.

Fraser and Grand Park are still negotiating a bond or financial surety amount for the remaining improvements on the roads in Fraser.

Winter Park will release $805,000 to Grand Park for the construction once the agreement is complete, Riesberg said.

“I would absolutely like to see this done before the new year,” Riesberg said. “The opening of these roads relies on two other parties, so it is something that is taking the Town of Winter Park longer than we would have liked.”

Once the roads are open to traffic, Winter Park will be responsible for temporarily closing the Kings Crossing railroad crossing. Colorado’s Public Utility Commission will be responsible for finalizing the crossing closure.