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Study backs improving existing roads

Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 24, 2007 at midnight

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The city of Golden unleashed its latest attack Wednesday on state plans to complete the metro beltway, providing a new study that says improving major roads in the area would do far more to ease traffic congestion.

The city paid $350,000 for an analysis by Boston-based CRA International. It concluded that widening certain locations of key roadways, including Sheridan, Wadsworth, Simms, Indiana, Ward and McIntyre, along with U.S. 6 and Colorado 93, would do more than a completed beltway to reduce travel time and miles driven.

Currently, the metro beltway includes the C-470 freeway and the E-470 and Northwest Parkway toll roads in a seamless three-quarter arc. The Colorado Department of Transportation has spent about $17 million on an environmental impact study aimed at connecting the ends of the beltway, currently at the Northwest Parkway in Broomfield near U.S. 36, with C-470 south of Golden.

Lacking money to build it as a freeway, CDOT is thinking of making it a toll road.

Golden's consultant, however, says toll revenues wouldn't be sufficient for the project.

A draft of CDOT's final study hasn't yet been released, and a tollway through Golden is only one option, CDOT says.

Golden City Manager Mike Bestor said the analysis done for the city shows a toll road "simply doesn't make sense from either a financial or transportation perspective."

"The failure of toll roads nationally to meet their overly optimistic traffic and revenue projections should serve as a warning that these proposals must be heavily scrutinized at the front end," Bestor said. "It's now clear that the new toll road proposed for Jefferson County will never pay for itself."

CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said people should wait to see the draft of the state's study before deciding.

"Golden didn't analyze the complete alternative we're moving forward with," she said. "One of the tollway alternatives isn't the same that they looked at, so it's not apples to apples, compared to what we're looking at."

"We have not made any decisions yet. We're still analyzing several alternatives and the costs involved, and we are continually working with Golden as well as the other stakeholders to try to come up with a solution."

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