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The Denver Post By Karen E. Crummy Jefferson County Parkway proponents face a new obstacle in their bid to build a proposed toll road: obtaining land from the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority, made up of representatives from the county, Arvada and Broomfield, needs to lease or swap land for a 300-foot right of way along the refuge's eastern boundary. But officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the refuge and is not taking a position on the parkway, told the authority in a recent meeting that federal law requires they conduct an environmental assessment and, possibly, a more detailed environmental impact statement. The former nuclear weapons plant is now a protected, 6,000-acre site that is home to various plants and animals. "It's a lengthy process. It might take months. It could take years," said refuge manager Steve Berendzen. "If they meet the requirements, then it's fine. It's no problem to do a lease." Berendzen said a land exchange wasn't likely because there wasn't any property that was "available or reasonable" for the refuge to pursue. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar's office, which oversees the agency, said it was monitoring the situation. Bill Ray, the authority's executive director, said he didn't know whether Fish and Wildlife's decision would delay plans to move forward with the toll road, but he "never had a particular timeline in the first place." "It may or may not be easy. We will look at all the options available to us," he said. Ray also noted that a 2004 Rocky Flats conservation plan and environmental impact statement said that "transfer of a corridor up to 300-feet wide would not adversely affect the management of the refuge." Twenty-four companies have shown initial interest in underwriting the toll road, which would complete the beltway around the metro area by connecting U.S. 36 to the junction of C-470 and Interstate 70.Other members of the authority have said they envisioned a deal made before the end of the year. The state transportation department spent $15 million studying the proposed toll road and environmental impacts but pulled the plug on the project last year after running out of money. Karen Crummy: 303-954-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com
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The following organizations endorse CINQ’s position: Colorado Environmental Coalition, Jeffco League of Women Voters, Plan Jeffco, Friends of the Foothills, former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm, Canyon Area Residents for the Environment (CARE), Blue Mountain Land & Homeowners Association, Apple Meadows Homeowners Association, Village at Mountain Ridge Homeowners Association, Meadow Run Homeowners Association, and Harmony Village Community Association. |