Solutions to current congestion and future road woes caused by development near Interstate 70 and Colorado 58 will take big bucks, Colorado Transportation Commission members told a standing- room-only crowd Tuesday.
“It’s a matter of money,” Commissioner Terry Schooler said.
Discussion about how to address the area’s traffic problems has been kicked off by Cabela’s plans to open a huge sports retail store southwest of the interchange by Sept. 1, 2007.
The development is expected to bring 35,000 vehicles on weekend days and 25,000 vehicles on weekdays, crowding already-burdened major roads and residential streets.
Three road-improvement alternatives for the area – all costing more than $100 million – are detailed in a traffic-feasibility study that was unanimously accepted by the commission.
A preferred alternative will be decided by an environment assessment being conducted by the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
The assessment is expected to take a year.
Members of the Clear Creek Valley Neighborhood Council – which represents 8,000 area homeowners and 120 businesses – urged direct access to Cabela’s from the freeways and making the main access from a new interchange at West 44th Avenue and Colorado 58.
Neighbors and elected officials said they supported the Cabela’s project but are worried about traffic, neighborhood preservation and safety.
Money to do some work before Cabela’s opens also was on speakers’ minds.
Any approach “is a pipe dream unless Referenda C and D are passed,” said former state Sen. Ed Perlmutter, who is a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 7th Congressional District.
CDOT and Jefferson County have committed up to $70 million toward the project, with $46.3 million contingent on C and D being approved by voters in November.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
