The Denver Regional Council of Governments’ decision not to include the metrowide beltway connection in its 2025 plan will not hamper the project, Arvada officials said. They could even get DRCOG to change its mind, city officials said.
At its April 16 meeting, DRCOG voted 24-8 to deny the beltway project inclusion in its 2025 regional transportation plan. Inclusion in the plan would have provided federal funding opportunities and better bond ratings for the project.
Ironically, the decision came one day after Gov. Bill Owens announced a partnership between Arvada, Broomfield, Jefferson County and the Colorado Department of Transportation to complete the missing beltway link. Owens said CDOT will complete an environmental study that will designate an alignment for the missing gap of the beltway, which extends just north of Arvada near Broomfield to the southwestern tip of Golden.
Owens’ announcement was viewed by its participants as a virtual guarantee that the controversial beltway will happen. Despite DRCOG’s decision, Arvada Mayor Ken Fellman said the new agreement still has all its momentum. He added that the April 16 decision was an amendment to the 2025 plan. Another amendment could be proposed in the future.
“The bottom line is that they’re (CDOT) still going ahead with the (environmental impact) study,” Fellman said. “At some point in the future, they’re (DRCOG) going to have to come forward and amend the plans again. Not only does this not nix the deal, it’s not even going to slow it down.”
Bob Manwaring, Arvada traffic engineer, sent out letters to residents encouraging them to write letters in support of the beltway. Manwaring said he presented roughly 25 letters to DRCOG.
Manwaring echoed Fellman’s comments that another amendment to the DRCOG 2025 plan is a possibility.
“There’s still that option,” Manwaring said. “DRCOG has told us that we can request an amendment for this if we have the desire.”
Both residents and city staff from Golden showed up at the April 16 meeting to speak out against the beltway. Although most claimed that the beltway did not meet the necessary criteria for inclusion in a regional transportation plan, Manwaring disagrees with them and DRCOG’s decision.
“DRCOG had several criteria,” Manwaring said. “It was perceived that we did not meet all of those criteria. It’s our perception that we did meet all of those criteria.”
At the DRCOG meeting, Golden City Councilman Bill McKee said the necessary studies haven’t been done on the beltway. The DRCOG criterion that seemed to snag the beltway plan was the requirement of a submitted environmental study.
Manwaring said he didn’t believe the beltway should have to present an environmental study in order to be named to the regional transportation plan. He said the proponents of the Northwest Parkway near Broomfield did not have to present such a study when the project was named to the 2020 plan in 2000.
“An environmental study only has a shelf life of three to five years,” Manwaring said. “We have every intention of proceeding with an environmental study, but those have a shelf life of three to five years, and those regional transportation plans go for over 20 years.”
An April 16 DRCOG newsletter talks about the beltway being denied entry into the 2025 plan. Although the newsletter is vague about the reasons for the beltway’s denial, it refers to the project as “very important to our board in helping to resolve out transportation problems of the future.”
McKee and Dave Ketchum, Golden mayor pro-tem, praised DRCOG’s decision at their April 17 City Council meeting.
Fellman said that the derisive comments were business as usual in the tale of two cities.
“I encourage Golden to be at the table on this. We will be work with them if they choose to be there,” Fellman said of the beltway. “I may be naïve, but I’m going to continue to be cautiously optimistic that Golden will see the benefit in participating.”