The Denver Post reports that the Denver Regional Council of Governments board of directors voted Wednesday night to include the proposed Jefferson Parkway toll road in the group’s long-range transportation plan. The vote was 35 to 17.

Jefferson County, Broomfield and Arvada have been promoting the toll highway, which would run from the Interlocken commercial complex just off U.S. 36 to CO 93 north of Golden. Officials from the city of Golden and communities in Boulder County were among those opposing the effort to include the toll highway in DRCOG’s plan.

Go to the Denver Post to see the entire article.

The Denver Business Journal reports that Wednesday’s public hearing on the last leg of Denver’s beltway is likely to draw a crowd. The issue is whether to include the 20-mile section between U.S. 36 through Golden and down to Interstate 70 in the region’s long-range transportation plan.

Getting a project included in the plan is a critical step among many that are needed to bring a proposal to reality.

But opponents are lining up against adding the initial phase of an estimated $203 million, 10-mile, private toll road dubbed the Jefferson Parkway. The first phase runs between between CO 93 and CO 128.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments will hold the public hearing at 7 p.m. in the Colorado History Museum Boettcher Auditorium, 1300 Broadway.

Go to the Denver Business Journal to see the entire article.

City of Golden Press Release

The city of Boulder, Boulder County, the City of Golden and the town of Superior have joined forces to oppose the current plan to build the Jefferson Parkway, warning taxpayers of the real cost the toll road would have on them.

Jefferson Parkway opponents have the opportunity to make their voices heard at a meeting with the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) on December 16. Public comment is encouraged as the DRCOG board decides whether or not to add the Jefferson Parkway to its regional transportation plan.
Fix93.org offers information about how to make a comment online or in person.

Jefferson Parkway backers are telling the public that private sector partners will pay for the proposed toll road. What they’re not revealing, however, is that their toll road would only work if taxpayers pay for close to $1 billion in additional road improvements around the toll road. These costs also would divert badly needed funds from other proposed regional or statewide transportation improvements.

The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority’s (JPPHA’s) application to be included in DRCOG’s regional transportation plan claims that it “will not require federal or state funding” and “requires no capital or operating funds from any public entity.”

However, plans to improve Highway 93 through Golden to C-470 are crucial for the success of the toll road. And the JPPHA has no intention of finding funding for these improvements. Its application states, “These improvements are assumed to be the responsibility of CDOT and/or area governments, and no funding or project commitment is available at this time.” That means an estimated cost of nearly $1 billion would fall on the backs of taxpayers.

Without these improvements, Jefferson Parkway traffic would be 60 to 80 percent below what the authority predicts, according to DRCOG traffic modeling. “For a toll road that’s supposed to be free to taxpayers, the Jefferson Parkway would be incredibly expensive,” said Golden Mayor Jacob Smith. “Given that the Jefferson Parkway will actually worsen traffic on almost all surrounding roads, it’s impossible to justify this expense.”

The city of Boulder, Boulder County, the city of Golden and the town of Superior have proposed making much-needed improvements to Highway 93 as an alternative to the Jefferson Parkway. Although it is a critical economic corridor, Highway 93 suffers from congestion and is dangerous, with its traffic fatality rate nearly double the state average for comparable roads.

The plan proposed by the four local governments would improve Highway 93’s safety and capacity, offering a boost to the clean energy research institutions in the area. For more information about the plan and to see maps of expected traffic increases as a result of the toll road, visit fix93.org.

Could $1.2 million from three local communities start a controversial highway project that $15 million from the Colorado Department of Transportation couldn’t? That`s the hope of elected officials in Broomfield, Arvada and Jefferson County, which each have given $400,000 to the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority, reports the Broomfield Enterprise.