A Safer, More Connected Havana Street
Construction on the South Havana Street Bikeway is approaching its final stages of construction, with completion anticipated this winter. Havana Street is already a popular recreational bicycling route in northern Douglas County, and this project is intended to make the corridor safer, more comfortable and better connected for people walking and biking.
The project extends along South Havana Street from Rail Way to Surrey Drive, adding dedicated bicycle facilities, pedestrian improvements and a new fully signalized intersection to improve safety and access to regional transit and nearby destinations. Improvements also include ADA-compliant ramps and other pedestrian enhancements. The project fills an essential missing link in the regional bikeway network, connecting RidgeGate Parkway with the Happy Canyon Creek Regional Trail and improving access to RTD facilities, Schweiger Ranch and Tall Tales Ranch.
The Havana Street project is easier to understand when viewed as more than a single bikeway. In a remarkably compact area around Havana Street, RidgeGate Parkway, historic Schweiger Ranch and Happy Canyon Creek, several public, private and nonprofit projects are taking shape concurrently. Together, they are creating connections among transit, trails, parks, historic property, new neighborhoods and a new residential community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
A Partnership Behind the Bikeway
The Havana Street Bikeway is itself the product of several agencies working together. The City of Lone Tree is the project owner and administers the construction contract. Funding is being provided through Colorado Department of Transportation and Rampart Range Metropolitan District. The District also provides project oversight through its resident project representative, including inspection and materials testing.
This partnership reflects a broader regional effort to improve bicycle and pedestrian connectivity while delivering publicly funded infrastructure responsibly and efficiently.
Schweiger Ranch and Tall Tales Ranch
That coordination becomes especially visible near historic Schweiger Ranch. The Havana bikeway is designed to improve walking and bicycling connections to both Schweiger Ranch and neighboring Tall Tales Ranch.
Tall Tales is being developed on four acres of Schweiger Ranch property provided through a land lease from the Schweiger Ranch Foundation. The planned community will provide housing and supportive community space for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities directly across from the RidgeGate Parkway light rail station.
Its location makes the surrounding transportation network especially important. The bikeway, nearby trails and new pedestrian connections are helping create safer and more direct access among housing, transit, recreation and community destinations.
Douglas County Bridges Another Gap
Immediately adjacent, Douglas County is building another important piece of the network.
In January 2026, County Commissioners approved a contract for a pedestrian bridge across Happy Canyon Creek. The bridge is part of a larger trail connection extending from the South Havana Street sidewalk near Tall Tales Ranch, across the creek, to the Happy Canyon Creek Regional Trail. Douglas County is leading the project in partnership with Lone Tree, Tall Tales Ranch, Parker Water and Sanitation District and South Suburban Parks and Recreation.
The connection will improve access to trails, open space, parks and recreation, while also strengthening the connection to the nearby Havana Street RTD station. Douglas County has specifically described mobility and access to open space as important quality-of-life benefits of the project.
Happy Canyon Creek: Several Projects, One Work Zone
At the same time, Mile High Flood District is managing the larger Happy Canyon Creek stream-improvement project in coordination with Lone Tree and Rampart Range Metropolitan District. The work includes stabilizing the creek channel and banks while also adding portions of the Happy Canyon Creek regional trail network.
The projects are so close together that their construction limits actually overlap, requiring extensive coordination among project sponsors and contractors. Rather than having multiple contractors restore the same area at different times, the agencies and contractors have collaborated to bring these projects together in a logical and fiscally responsible manner. That kind of coordination may not be obvious once the pavement, sidewalks and landscaping are finished, but it is an important example of how several independent projects can be delivered efficiently in the same area while minimizing duplicated work and unnecessary cost.
Connecting to High Note Park
The connections continue toward High Note Park.
The 80-acre regional park along Happy Canyon Creek was included in the long-range vision associated with Lone Tree residents’ approval of the RidgeGate annexation in 2000. Phase One broke ground in April 2026 and will connect the park to the Happy Canyon Creek Trail, and therefore to Schweiger Ranch and the East West Regional Trail. The park itself is another regional partnership involving Lone Tree, South Suburban Parks and Recreation, Douglas County and other funding partners.
A Vision Taking Shape
There is a longer historical continuity to all of this.
Soon after Lone Tree incorporated, the City’s first Comprehensive Plan envisioned “a network of tree-lined streets and trails connecting attractive community facilities.” It also called for “cooperative and coordinated planning and public service delivery between the City, the County and service providers to the City.” Nearly three decades later, both ideas are visible on the ground just east of I-25.
The individual projects have different owners, funding sources, contractors, schedules and purposes. One improves a street. Another crosses a creek. Another stabilizes that creek. Another creates a home and community. Another builds a regional park.
Yet because they are being planned and constructed within the same small area—and because the agencies and contractors are coordinating the details—each makes the others more useful.
That may ultimately be the most important part of the Havana Street Bikeway story. Completing a transportation and trail network rarely happens through one project. It happens connection by connection, and through the less-visible daily work of coordinating designs, funding, schedules, construction access, inspections and responsibilities among many partners.