Quote:
Originally Posted by untitledreality
I really hope they are able to hold on and win out. Denver has no need whatsoever for a full beltway, not with the amount of intersecting interstates that fill the Denver metro area. And especially to slow down the pummeling assault of sprawl on the foothill prairies between Boulder and Golden.
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Given that Golden has sprawled plenty all by itself over the last 20 years or so, I don't think they really have a heck of a lot of right to say much of anything in this matter, quite frankly. While I'm not the biggest proponent of completing the 470 Beltway around metro Denver, there is absolutely no question that traffic between Golden and Boulder can be pretty terrible at times, and the current road (State Route 93) isn't currently up to the challenge. I understand Golden not wanting any additional on and off-ramps through the city, that makes quite a bit of sense. And yes, it will likely produce some additional sprawl, specifically on lands owned by neighboring Arvada. However, given that a good chunk of land along the route is actually the former Rocky Flats (ie: where I believe all of the nation's plutonium sources for nuclear weaponry were ever produced), it's not likely there will be any residential or commercial growth on that land for probably eternity.
Again, while I'm not a huge fan of the beltway completion, Golden is simply being a fly in the ointment here, and it's done nothing but be that fly for 20+ years. Nearly everything the city has asked for has been agreed to, and even when the city seemingly agreed to drop any further legal actions, a small group of residents (seemingly the ones with the political power) have convinced them to flare up their opposition yet again.
If Golden were a place that hasn't sprawled all by itself in the last few decades, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. Now, however, they can pretty much drop dead in my book.
Aaron (Glowrock)
edit: vid, that's Hwy 93. The 470 Beltway completion will actually use much of the ROW of the current road for several miles from Hwy 6 (just below the bottom of that aerial shot) through Golden's sprawl, and then will turn eastward and then northward again a few miles north of Golden.