Frequently Asked Questions
Why have Jefferson Economic Council and its partners launched the
Beltway to Tomorrow campaign?
1. Up to one half of the planned economic and fiscal potential of the
northwest corridor of metro Denver is at stake over the next 20
years – most of the area is in Jefferson County. A completed beltway
will bring a healthier mix of jobs, homes and needed services to the
northwest corridor and improve area travel, which today is
inconvenient and sometimes dangerous. A detailed study of the
benefits of completing the proposed final beltway connection is
available at BWayNow.Com.
2. For 40 years, the Denver Regional Council of Governments and a wide array of jurisdictions and organizations have envisioned the completed beltway as key to smart and sustainable regional development.
3. The cost of worldwide resources needed for major highway construction is rising rapidly. At the same time the funding of highways of any kind is growing in complexity. $100 million in incentives and construction funds – set aside by Northwest Parkway, LLC – are available to help facilitate a public-private partnership to complete metro Denver’s beltway. The time to act is now!
4. The metro region and specifically the communities that will be most directly affected by the completion of the proposed final segment of the beltway have for 25 years planned for its completion. Now is the time for action – 73 possible solutions have been considered and millions of dollars already have been invested. Further delays will cost the region substantially.
5. The interests of any one community must not trump the long-range needs of the region. Many communities have been affected by the development of the metro Denver beltway; those same communities have derived a variety of benefits, including a healthier mix jobs, homes and needed services.
6. A completed beltway will allow people across the region to circumvent the center of the metro area in their travels. Also, in the foreseeable future, the completed beltway will become crucial to regional travel. The importance of a completed regional beltway will grow as I-70 between I-25 and I-225 and other high-priority interstate and beltway segments are improved – much the way E-470 provided an alternative to traveling I-25 during the T-REX project.
Will tolls be charged along the proposed final beltway
connection?
Yes, but only along 10 miles of the proposed final beltway
connection, which are the last 10 miles of the metro beltway to
be tolled. Tolls are commonplace in the development of many
highways across the world and are charged already along more
than 50 miles of the metro Denver beltway. Existing state
roadways included in the final connection will not be tolled.
How will the proposed final beltway connection be financed?
The proposed final beltway connection will be financed
through a public-private partnership more than likely led by
a new public highway authority managed by Jefferson County,
City of Arvada and the City and County of Broomfield.
The Northwest Parkway, LLC, which runs and operates
the Northwest Parkway, has set aside $100 million in
incentives for the timely completion of the beltway.
Will the City of Golden have a superhighway running
through it?
A four-lane parkway is envisioned in the City of Golden,
similar to the Evergreen Parkway or Foothills Parkway in
Boulder and would be consistent with what already exists as
Highway 6 between Jefferson County Parkway and 19th
Street. The parkway will follow the existing state highway 93 alignment
to Sixth Avenue, which currently connects to C-470. Detailed maps are
available at BWayNow.Com.
Where is the proposed final beltway segment?
It is located in the northwest corridor area of metro Denver. The
proposed final beltway segment would join the Northwest Parkway on
the north and C-470 on the south.
When was the metro Denver beltway started?
Officially, the metro Denver beltway got underway in 1968 – 40
years ago this year – with the formation of the I-470 public highway
authority. Initial construction of C-470, the southwest metro segment
of the beltway from I-70 on the west to I-25 (Park Meadows/Highlands
Ranch) on the south started 12 years later in 1980. The metro beltway
has been under construction for nearly 30 years!
How much of the metro beltway is completed?
86 of 106 planned miles of the metro Denver beltway are complete –
only about 20 miles in the northwest corridor remain to be finished of
those 20 miles only 10 will be tolled. The proposed final beltway would
extend from the Northwest Parkway near the Denver-Boulder Turnpike,
I-36, on the north to C-470 at Sixth Avenue on the south.
What were the key findings in the “2007 Economic & Fiscal Impacts
of Development in the Northwest Corridor Area Study,” prepared for
Jefferson Economic Council by veteran metro Denver economist Patty
Silverstein, Development Research Partners?
In a nutshell, the report indicates that over the next 20 years, half
of the economic and fiscal potential of Jefferson County is at risk if the
metro beltway is not completed. The full report, including an executive
summary, may be found at BWayNow.Com.
On the flip side, completing the beltway will attract a healthier mix of jobs, homes and needed services to the area, much of which is in Jefferson County. Without the beltway, much of the area will see more residential development, which has dominated the area for decades and drains resources without complementary commercial uses. A healthier mix of uses in the area would bring needed jobs and services, reduce commuting times and provide a smarter and more sustainable future for area residents.
What were the major non-residential developable parcels of land
that were considered in the study?
There were four major land parcels considered, totaling 3,345
acres, all of which has been strategically targeted for mixed-use
development:
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, 534 acres
Vauxmont/Cimarron, 1,487 acres
Keller Farms, 1,183 acres
Jeffco property, 141 acres (half must be kept as open space)
What are the regional benefits associated with the completion
of the metro Denver beltway?
Smart and sustainable development is the number one reason
for completing the long-planned metro Denver beltway.
The metropolitan beltway has been underway for 40 years.
For 15 years, Golden, Arvada and Jefferson County have in good faith
considered the best route for the proposed final beltway connection.
Now, the cost and complexity of major highway construction is
rising rapidly. Now is the time for action.
Today, fifty percent of residents in Jefferson County are forced to commute elsewhere for lack of local jobs, which have been planned along the proposed final beltway connection.
If built, the completed beltway will improve the region’s transportation system, safety and quality of life.
Regional transportation will operate more smoothly, especially
as high priority re-construction of I-70 between I-225 and I-25
advances; as I-76 is repaired and improved and other regional
roadway improvements are made.
The beltway also will be linked with FasTracks and other anticipated
future transit initiatives.
Studies produced by those opposing the proposed final beltway
connection say that this final segment is unneeded; how do campaign
organizers respond?
We believe that the final connection is needed. We urge the news
media and the community to take a hard look at the evidence.
In good faith, the region has considered 73 alternative routes for
the proposed final beltway connection.
Now is the time for action.Worldwide realities make it clear that further delays will cost the
region billions of dollars in lost economic and fiscal opportunities.
Many jobs will be lost in the northwest corridor area of metro
Denver if the beltway is not completed in a timely manner; local city
streets will continue to be adversely affected by the growing number of
regional travelers and the future of the regional transportation network
will be put at risk.
Is CDOT, the Colorado Department of Transportation, involved
in the process?
In 2003, CDOT stepped into the process of finding a way to
complete the proposed final beltway connection. However, worldwide
realities and local funding priorities may make it impossible for CDOT
to play a lead role in the public-private partnership that ultimately will
fund and manage the final beltway segment.
How would the proposed final beltway connection differ from the rest
of the metro beltway?
The proposed final beltway connection will provide a quick
and easy alternative to already congested and often dangerous northwest
corridor area arterials, including state highway 93, Indiana Ave.,
McIntyre Ave. and Wadsworth.
We believe that speeds through Golden should be reduced and that the area should have more of a parkway feel.
Has the Northwest Parkway struggled?
The cost of acquiring open space and improving local
roadways near the Northwest Parkway seriously affected the cost
of the highway; also, a short-term slowdown in the high tech
industry sector affected this otherwise rapidly growing and highly
desirable area of the region.
Will the funding of the proposed final beltway connection
be unusual?
No. A public highway authority is a public-private
partnership formed for the purpose of completing important
transportation projects. The same essential method has been
used to finance E-470, the Northwest Parkway and many other
worldwide roadways. It is important to note that when
considered as a whole, the metropolitan Denver beltway
has produced a better quality of life for the region in the form
of a healthier mix of jobs, homes and needed services.
That is why Jefferson Economic Council has launched the
Beltway to Tomorrow public information campaign – so that the
northwest corridor area of metro Denver can benefit from the
same healthier mix of jobs, homes and needed services through
the timely completion of the metro beltway. Currently the area
has an abundance of open space; however, the area is dominated
by homes and lacks adequate jobs and services for its residents.
Jobs, health care, shopping and entertainment, for example,
for people in the area, will become more convenient when the
proposed final beltway connection is finished. The completed
beltway will allow people across the region to get where they are
going more quickly and safely.
What about individual community interests?
Local community input into the proposed final beltway connection
has been extensive.
Every community directly affected by the proposed final beltway connection, Jefferson County, Arvada, Broomfield and Golden have planned to accommodate the beltway. Only recently did Golden begin to change its policies after achieving local objectives.
The beltway has been on Arvada’s transportation plan since 1964. The Golden transportation plan included provision for an expressway replacing Colorado Highway 93 since 1983.
Golden obtained support from Arvada and other cities in its application for CDOT funds to relocate portions of state highway 93 and construct a new C-470 interchange at 6th Ave., as preliminary to extension and completion of the beltway.
Golden also secured CDOT funding to relocate state highway 93 away from Washington St. through downtown Golden with the intent of removing regional traffic away from the center of the city on the future beltway.
What about the environment?
In the northwest corridor area where the proposed final beltway
connection would be located, right-of-way has been acquired over time
and major investments have been made to protect abundant open space.
More than 30,000 acres in the corridor near the proposed final
beltway connection is open space, including the 6,000-acre Rocky Flats
Wildlife Refuge. The proposed final beltway connection would skirt the
eastern end of that parcel and would travel through some of the most
scenic areas of metro Denver.
Will transportation between the mountains and DIA improve?
Yes. Travelers now forced to travel along I-70 and I-25 through the
core of the metro region will have the option of skirting the area via the
proposed final beltway connection.
Why is part of the metro Denver beltway tolled and part not?
The funding of highways has changed dramatically in the 40 years
since the metro Denver beltway was conceived and in the nearly 30
years that it has been under construction.
Originally envisioned as an interstate highway, C-470, the southwest segment of the metro beltway, eventually was built as a state highway and is not tolled.
E-470, the 47-mile-long eastern beltway, is a tolled expressway and was funded through a public-private partnership, the E-470 Public Highway Authority – including eight jurisdiction members: Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties and the cities of Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Thornton and the town of Parker. E-470 also passes through the City and County of Denver and Denver International Airport.
Plans call for tolls along E-470 to end about 2039 when bonds are retired and a perpetual maintenance fund is established. E-470 then will be handed over to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The 11-mile-long Northwest Parkway also was developed through a public-private partnership, the Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority. The Northwest Parkway has leased operation of the tollway to spread out the repayment of construction costs, which were greatly increased because of open space acquisitions required to complete the segment of the beltway through Boulder County.
In transportation terms, what is a public-private partnership and how
will a PPP be part of the completion of the proposed final beltway
connection?
Public-private partnerships for decades have been the only way to
complete many major highway and other transportations projects.
Recent examples in the metro Denver area include the completion of
E-470 and the Northwest Parkway.
According to the Federal Highway Administration Authority,
public-private partnerships (PPPs) refer to contractual agreements
formed between a public agency and private sector entity that
allow for greater private sector participation in the delivery of
transportation projects.
As federal and state funding for major highways shrinks, PPPs are becoming the preferred way of financing, constructing, operating and maintaining major transportation projects; such funding is becoming a common worldwide practice.
What will be the toll rates on the proposed final segment
of the beltway?
That has not been determined. However, metro Denver toll rates
are comparable with charges in other metropolitan areas.
Do other major metropolitan areas have beltways?
Yes. They are common.
Why not just improve area arterial highways?
We support the improvement of arterial roadways; however,
proposing that those improvements would be able to handle projected
growth and associated regional and local traffic is untrue. Also, there
is no identified funding for the improvements proposed.
Are toll roads new to the West?
No. Tolls were charged on the roads leading to early mining camps
and in building US36.
More than half of the existing metro beltway is tolled. Tolls are becoming more common in urban areas, such as metro Denver.
Does DRCOG support the completion of the beltway
and will it be linked to bus and future transit?
Yes. The beltway is supported in DRCOG’s MetroVision 2035
regional planning document.
Detailed FAQ