Globeville Levee Improvements

The City and Mile High Flood District are moving forward with an engineering design and construction project to upgrade the existing levee and flood control system along the west bank of the South Platte River called the Globeville Levee Improvements.

The Improvements will extend from about 31st Street to Franklin Street and will be broken into phases for design and construction. The improvements generally include raising the existing earthen embankment levee and floodwalls one to three feet to meet FEMA requirements for certification of 44 CFR 65.10.

Pre-Construction Announcement - August 2024

In advance of construction to build the new Globeville Levee, roughly 90 trees, mostly small, with root systems near the footprint of the future levee are required to be removed. To protect the structural integrity of the new levee, trees cannot grow in, on, or next to the earthen levee. The removal effort will focus on the area along the river at 48th Avenue, Emerson and Clarkson Streets. To offset the tree removal, Denver Parks and Recreation will be planting new trees in other locations in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea. Tree removal will begin around August 18.

Project Study Area

Globeville Levee Project Study Area (Full Size PDF)(PDF, 15MB)

Project Schedule

• Phase 1 (from 50th Ave to Franklin Street) – Construction is complete. Phase 1 is part of the 52nd and Emerson Water Quality Project (Heron Pond, Heller Open Space, and Carpio Sanguinette Park) and was built concurrently with the 51st Avenue Bridge Project.

• Phase 2 (from 50th Avenue to 38th Street) – Data collection and preliminary design kicked off at the beginning of 2021. Final design is expected to be complete in 2023, with construction anticipated to begin late 2024. Phase 2 may be broken into additional phases for construction pending available budget.

• Phase 3 (from 38th Street to 31st Street) – Data collection and preliminary design kicked off at the beginning of 2021. Final design is expected to follow, with construction anticipated in the next few years.