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TheBoulder Daily Camera It's unusual for Boulder's open-space land to be threatened by urban sprawl stimulated by unneeded super highways. But that is exactly what is now happening at the Jewel Mountain Open Space in northern Jefferson County. Boulder Open Space purchased the 1,100-acre parcel northwest of the intersection of Colo. 93 and Colo. 72 in 1999 to protect Boulder's scenic southern corridor from encroaching development. At the time, the open-space purchase appeared to have halted Arvada's massive Jefferson Center, a 28-square-mile urban development project larger than the city of Boulder. It would have included thousands of new homes and hundreds of commercial establishments sprawling from east of Indiana Street, westward along Colo. 72 and all the way across Colo. 93 into the mountain backdrop. Now, some seven years later, Arvada is moving ahead with plans to build Vauxmont and Cimarron, a somewhat scaled-back version of the Jefferson Center with more than 2,200 homes and dozens of commercial buildings just across Colo. 93 from Boulder open space. As the first step in this plan, Arvada has targeted 2,000 acres of land mostly on the north side of Colo. 72 between Indiana and Colo. 93 for urban renewal. To the casual observer, most of it appears to be unspoiled prairie grassland. To Arvada, however, it's "urban blight," as the city declared last year. Also included in Arvada's plans to urbanize its western flank adjacent to Boulder's open space is a 190-acre parcel two miles west of Colo. 93, north of Colo. 72 and just west of the railroad tracks along the mountain backdrop. That parcel was annexed by Arvada several years ago so the city could build 90 homes on small lots in a subdivision called Canyon Pines. Boulder's Jewel Mountain open space will be sandwiched between Arvada's two large sprawling developments. Key to these projects is approval of Arvada's "preferred alignment" for the super-highway/toll road that would connect the Northwest Parkway, a toll road now ending in Broomfield, with W470 south of Golden. That may sound like a reasonable idea, but comprehensive traffic studies have shown otherwise. Several years ago the "Feasibility Study" was funded by local governments to examine transportation requirements within the northwest quadrant. Results of that study indicated that making Colo. 93 and Indiana into four-lane arterial parkways would resolve regional transportation needs for several decades. Arvada and the Colorado Department of Transportation rejected that study and proposed the super-highway/toll road through Golden, an approach that is more a development stimulator for Vauxmont/Cimarron/Canyon Pines than a transportation solution. It should be no surprise that Arvada's "preferred alignment" passes directly through Vauxmont. Arvada documents reveal that the Vauxmont/Cimarron development plan is contingent on approval of this version of the proposed toll road. If the toll road is rejected, the entire development plan must be reconsidered. A letter from the city of Boulder, Boulder County, the city of Louisville and the town of Superior indicates that those communities are strongly opposed to Arvada's and CDOT's "preferred alignment." The letter expressed major concerns about the impact that the toll road would have on existing open-space lands and parcels with open-space potential. It states, "We have grave concerns with the screening alternatives. In particular, we do not believe that the early removal (from the list of alternatives) of modest improvements to existing arterials (the Feasibility Study recommendation) meets the credibility test." While toll roads are promoted as free to taxpayers, historical facts prove otherwise. The Denver Post recently published a three-part series on toll roads exposing the flawed studies, conflicts of interest, development motives, failed projects, and manipulation of data that deceives bond buyers and costs taxpayers. Taxpayers throughout the state will be faced with higher taxes at a time when our highway budgets are limited. A grassroots group of concerned citizens, Citizens Involved in the Northwest Quadrant, is actively opposing Arvada's toll road, which incidentally would bisect the city of Golden. Understandably, Golden is even more opposed to the project than Boulder. CINQ has exposed the historical failure of toll roads in spite of "non-compete" agreements often established between tolling authorities and governments. Such agreements are designed to force traffic from existing roadways, like Colo. 93, onto toll roads in order to make them profitable. CINQ also has exposed serious conflicts of interest with developers controlling the process to build this toll road. CINQ estimates that the cost of the toll road is far in excess of the twin parkway concept suggested earlier in the Feasibility Study. Details of the proposed superhighway can be obtained at the CINQ Web site, www.gothebetterway.com. The site also provides information on how to contact appropriate elected officials to express your views. Candidates running for office in November should be asked where they stand; their answer should be an important factor in deciding how to vote. Both gubernatorial candidates should be asked whether or not they would keep the current CDOT administrator, Tom Norton, who strongly supports the toll road over all other options, or appoint someone new who might be open to reasonable alternatives. Bob Kropfli is a board member of Friends of the Foothills. A Boulder resident for 27 years, he now lives in Coal Creek Canyon |
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The following organizations endorse CINQ’s position: Colorado Environmental Coalition, 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. |