Rachel Carson Group Newsletter of the Sierra Club
Winter 2006
The last quadrant standing
With the re-emergence of the “Northwest Sprawlway” you might be wondering if it’s 1989 again, or maybe 1999, or even 2001? Well rest assured it’s 2006 and believe it or not, the “Northwest Sprawlway” is back. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is again pushing plans to build a superhighway, or more accurately a tollway, that would directly impact the communities of Arvada, Broomfield, Golden, Boulder, Superior, Westminster, and Wheat Ridge, as well as the entire Denver and Boulder region. Drivers heading west on Highway 72 or 128 or north and south along Highway 93, can still see natural open spaces, ranchland, farmland, and rolling hills instead of an endless sea of roofs and concrete. That could all change soon. A superhighway will undoubtedly have an impact on land use in the area, as growth would likely occur in all areas currently open for development, tarnishing the region’s mountain backdrop. However, the tide is turning and the power and will of the people to preserve this area and obtain real traffic solutions is beginning to take hold.
From the start it was clear that this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process would be fraught with controversy. According to the Boulder Daily Camera, on September 25, 2000, CDOT Director Tom Norton ordered the Jefferson County Commissioners to complete the 470 loop through their county or risk losing funding for all other transportation projects. Why does CDOT think we need a toll road, or a giant highway for that matter? We don’t. Moreover, the price tag for this boondoggle is estimated to be over a billion dollars at a time when Colorado is tightening its budget and exercising fiscal constraint. There is barely enough money to maintain existing roadways as Tom Norton regularly points out. This is a serious problem, and it won’t be solved by spending a billion dollars on a superghighway that traffic demand projections show isn’t needed.
The EIS process is nearing the release of the Draft EIS. This document will offer the most detailed analysis yet of the alternatives remaining. The Draft EIS will most likely select a preferred alternative chosen by the project team, but what about the preferred alternative of the citizens of Colorado? CDOT conveniently analyzed that alternative out of existence long ago since it didn’t call for a superhighway or toll road. Nevertheless, history has shown that the citizens’ alternative isn’t necessarily gone forever.
Last year CDOT supported the Front Range Toll Road on the Eastern Plains or “Stupid Slab” as it was called, and citizens banded together, creating a firestorm that quickly put a halt to the effort. Now it is time to band together again to protect our living landscapes, our wallets, and our voices in the public input process. 2006 needs to be the year we finally lay the northwest superhighway and toll road idea to rest once and for all. The political, economic and social climate at present is making this more of a reality day by day.
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