The Issue

The area surrounding Golden, Arvada and Broomfield is expected to
get an extraordinary growth in traffic via a beltway, according to an
analysis by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

WHAT DOES CDOT PLAN TO DO?
CDOT wants to connect the C470/6th Avenue interchange with the I-25 corridor in Broomfield. CDOT is currently undergoing an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) primarily to evaluate connectivity with other highway systems. (See CDOT’s Northwest Corridor Goals.)

WHAT’S WRONG WITH CONNECTIVITY?
Just because a highway system connects with another highway systems does not mean an improvement is achieved. If this were true, then Los Angeles, Phoenix and Houston would be the traffic Meccas of the world, not sprawling, traffic system nightmares. CDOT’s EIS study is not interested in travel improvement, traffic congestion alleviation, habitat preservation or preserving community integrity. These important considerations are ignored in the current EIS study because it is all about connectivity. This focus on connectivity virtually guarantees a beltway.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH A BELTWAY?
To highlight a few issues:
• The loss of quiet areas.
• The destruction of the largest high plains habitat near a city Denver’s size in the world.
• A projected traffic increase through the Northwest quadrant of the Metro area of over 500 hundred percent.
• Increased sprawl, since sprawl follows highway systems.
• An exorbitant price tag - 1 billion dollars – money that could be used for the I-70 corridor or alleviating traffic congestion in Arvada.

I LIVE IN ARVADA, DOESN’T A BELTWAY BENEFIT ME?
The CDOT theory goes like this: If traffic moves from the south of the metro area via a beltway then it would no longer move up I-25, Wadsworth, McIntyre St. or Indiana Street to get to Broomfield. This is only a theory - the shortest distance always will be up I-25 or through Arvada. CDOT did not consider that price of gasoline might deter people from driving dozens of extra miles just to avoid the I-25 corridor. The most optimistic expectations in CDOT’s studies show a decrease of traffic on Wadsworth of only 5%.

WOULDN’T A 5% REDUCTION ON WADSWORTH BE A BENEFIT?
For a billion dollars? If you believe that increasing the traffic volume in the area by 500% is going to decrease traffic on one of the most important north-south arterials, there’s some swamp land in Florida for you.

WELL IF WE COULD PAY FOR THE BELTWAY WITHOUT TAXPAYER MONEY WOULDN’T THAT BE WORTH IT?
The absolutely worse scenario for Arvada would be a tollway because the designated route for people who do not want to pay a toll would be McIntyre, Wadsworth or Indiana Street. In other words, a tremendous increase of traffic in Arvada would be created without a nickel going toward mitigation of already congested roads. A tollway actually benefits Golden because CDOT projects that fewer motorists would use it compared to other alternatives.

WOULDN’T A TOLLWAY BENEFIT SOMEBODY?
Well, wealthy Coloradans would be able to drive the tollway to the Jeffco Airport and fly their private planes at the expense of the cities of Golden and Arvada. Seriously, Colorado citizens have repeatedly told their representatives and the Governor that they do not want tollways. These are private enterprises profiting from Colorado drivers. If tollway traffic does not meet projections, tollway bonds will be backed by the taxing of Colorado citizens. A tollway is the worst possible outcome, except for those Coloradans who don’t care whether they have to pay to drive a highway, or stand to make money from development.

WHAT ARE OPPOSITION GROUPS ACCOMPLISHING?
The objective of several opposition groups is to find an alternative to the beltway. New groups are joining daily. Some of these groups have organized: CINQ, FRIENDS OF THE FOOTHILLS, BETTERTRAFFICSOLUTIONS.COM.,STOPTHEBELTWAY.COM. These groups are doing what they can through direct participation in the EIS process, community activism, contacting representatives and challenging CDOT to come up with creative transportation solutions - not a beltway.

WASN’T THE BELTWAY DEFEATED IN THE PAST?
Yes. The Northwest Quadrant Feasibility Study was commissioned by the Denver Regional Councils, Jefferson County, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Westminster, Arvada and Golden. The study assessed the feasibility of constructing a tollway in the area. The study recommended improvements to major arterials such as State Highway 93, Highway 6 and the Indiana/McIntyre corridor. The study advised that improvements to these arterials would satisfy future transportation needs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on this study that proved a tollway could make traffic worse in this quadrant of the city.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?
Incredibly, CDOT changed the study. They started a new EIS, which abandoned the study of local travel, emphasized the need for highway system connectivity and pushed the traffic study out to 2030. In other words, they reshuffled the deck and changed the rules - in order to accomplish a predetermined outcome.

IS THAT POSSIBLE?
CDOT can do it and is doing it. Millions have been spent needlessly on a study designed to fool people into thinking that other options to a problem are being considered. This waste of money is especially outrageous given Colorado’s fiscal crisis.

IF NOT A BELTWAY, THEN WHAT?
Citizen groups support the major arterial improvements recommended in the conclusions of the Northwest Quadrant Feasibility Study. These improvements were shown to be the most effective transportation solution for mobility and congestion relief. These groups also support the improvements called for in Golden’s “Muller Study” - 4 lanes of traffic on SH-93, as well as similar improvements to the Indiana/McIntire corridor.