Hello, Highlands Ranch.
There’s a major transportation project beginning to take shape along the southwest side of the Ranch.
And here’s the interesting part: it’s still early.
Douglas County has hired an engineering team to begin designing improvements around US 85 and Titan Parkway. The project is anticipated to include widening US 85 from four to six through lanes between Highlands Ranch Parkway and Titan Road.
But we’re nowhere near orange-cone season yet.
Traffic still needs to be modeled. Environmental impacts need to be studied. Noise near existing homes needs to be analyzed. Funding needs to be assembled. And residents will have opportunities to weigh in as the plans develop.
While looking into one seemingly simple question: who pays for all of this? The Scoop fell into a Douglas County transportation-tax rabbit hole.
Turns out, living in an unincorporated community like Highlands Ranch makes this story a lot more interesting.
Let’s get into it
—Grace Hody
Editor, The Ranch Brief
1. So, what exactly is happening?
Douglas County has begun design work on improvements around the US 85 and Titan Parkway interchange.
The project is anticipated to include widening US 85 from four to six through lanes between Highlands Ranch Parkway and Titan Road.
That’s the physical “what.”
The notable thing to know is where the project currently sits in the process:
Design → traffic and environmental studies → public input → final plans → construction
We’re near the beginning.
That means some significant details, including exactly what gets built, what it will cost, and how it will be funded, don’t have final answers yet.
2. Why does the County say it’s needed?
The short answer: growth south of the Ranch.
Douglas County’s project documents say improvements are needed to accommodate substantial future traffic demand in the Chatfield Basin.
The County specifically calls for traffic modeling that accounts for Sterling Ranch, the future Zebulon Regional Sports Complex, and other regional development.
In other words:
Development → people → cars → more volume on US 85
What about the communities that already live near this project?
Established Highlands Ranch neighborhoods sit close to this stretch of US 85. That creates two important questions: how much does this project impact current residences in Highlands Ranch, and how will the cost be divided among developers, taxpayers, and other funding sources.
And that sent us down the rabbit hole.
3. Wait. How do our road taxes work? 🐰
First, something that’s easy to forget: Highlands Ranch isn’t technically a city.
It’s an unincorporated community.
That means we don’t have a Highlands Ranch city government. Douglas County provides many of the governmental functions a city would otherwise provide, including responsibility for County transportation infrastructure.
And that makes a difference in how one of our transportation taxes works.
Douglas County has a 0.40% Road Sales and Use Tax, known in the County budget as Fund 230.
The tax is collected countywide, but where the money goes next depends on whether it was collected in an incorporated or unincorporated part of Douglas County.
If Fund 230 tax is collected inside Parker, for example, 75% is shared back with Parker and 25% remains with Douglas County for major regional improvements.
If it’s collected in Highlands Ranch, there’s no municipal government to receive a shareback.
Douglas County retains 100%.
🏙️ INCORPORATED | 🏡 UNINCORPORATED |
|---|---|
Castle Rock • Parker • Lone Tree* • Castle Pines • Larkspur | Highlands Ranch • Sterling Ranch • Stonegate • The Pinery • Roxborough + other areas |
Fund 230 — 0.40% Road Tax | Fund 230 — 0.40% Road Tax |
75% → City/Town | 100% → Douglas County |
25% → Douglas County | No municipal shareback |
That doesn’t mean Highlands Ranch doesn’t receive the money back through roads and infrastructure. The County is responsible for providing that infrastructure here.
The Fund 230 isn’t the only transportation tax.
There’s also Fund 235, a separate 0.18% Transportation Infrastructure Tax. That fund has no municipal sharebacks. Douglas County retains the revenue and uses it for transportation projects throughout the county.
So, yes.
You have officially entered the tax rabbit hole with us.
4. Where is the $22 million potentially programmed for the project?
This is where our tax detour circles right back to US 85. Douglas County’s current five-year capital plan shows:
$2 million in 2027
$20 million in 2029
Both allocations are programmed for the US 85/Titan Parkway Interchange Project from Fund 230—the 0.40% Road Sales and Use Tax we just explained.
That’s $22 million in programmed County transportation funding.
But there’s an important distinction:
We don’t yet know that this is a $22 million project.
The capital plan tells us that $22 million in Fund 230 revenue is currently programmed toward it. It does not establish the project’s total estimated cost or tell us how much will ultimately come from developers, County transportation taxes, CDOT, federal sources, or other funding.
It’s also unclear whether that amount includes the roughly $4 million to $4.5 million associated with design and preconstruction work.
The Scoop found what appears to be roughly $2 million in development-related funding associated with US 85 and Titan Parkway, but we’re still confirming exactly what that money covers and whether additional developer contributions could become part of the project.
So, for now, the answer is a question: “Who pays what?”
5. What about the neighborhoods already here?
Existing homes sit near this stretch of US 85, including neighborhoods along the western side of Highlands Ranch.
Widening a highway increases traffic capacity. It can also affect noise, landscaping, and the physical buffer between the roadway and nearby backyards.
The engineering scope already includes a traffic-noise analysis.
That process is expected to include real-world noise measurements, modeling of future traffic conditions, and an evaluation of potential noise barriers if the findings warrant them.
The analysis should help determine which homes could experience significant effects and what mitigation, if any, may be considered.
What remains unresolved is what protection could be recommended, how it would be funded, and whether it would be included as a core part of the project.
So, when do residents get a say?
Here’s another reason we’re covering this now instead of waiting for construction season: It’s early.
The project remains in the design phase.
Its engineering scope includes public involvement through two virtual public meetings or open houses, direct outreach to affected residents, website and email updates, and other community engagement.
There will also be significant technical work before construction can move forward.
So this isn’t a story about a finished plan.
It’s a story we can follow as the plan gets made because somehow we started with a highway expansion and ended up learning how Highlands Ranch’s road taxes work.
We’ll keep you posted. 🐰
—Grace