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GUEST COLUMNIST: A bridge too far

Wednesday, November 7 at 12:00 AM

By Andrew Wallach, Denver

Fifty years ago, the south bank of Cherry Creek just west of Parker Road was part of the Flowing J Ranch. The Flowing J was a livery stable where many of Denver’s baby boomers enjoyed their first horseback riding experiences. Would-be cowboys and cowgirls cantered west along Cherry Creek toward the Rockies, retracing the path of Colorado’s first white settlers on the historic trail. Coyotes and songbirds were the nearest local residents, and traffic congestion and rush-hour commutes were problems for big cities far away.

Today the Flowing J is long gone, replaced by suburban development. Now the land where Arapahoe County’s South Wabash Street abruptly ends at the quiet creek is the focus of an impassioned political conflict.

The creek’s channel here is owned by the city of Denver, and a behind-the-scenes quarrel over the site tests the limits of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s well-known commitment to regional cooperation. He’ll need to persuade reluctant Denver City Councilwoman Peggy Lehmann to allow Arapahoe County to acquire Denver’s land to complete the roadway with a three-lane bridge that would funnel thousands of cars per day through adjacent Denver neighborhoods.

The traffic congestion that sparked the clash results from decades of rapid growth in the suburbs south and east of the site. It has kindled fears on the part of many of Lehmann’s (and Hickenlooper’s) constituents of an onslaught of commuters using the new bridge to escape nearby arterial routes jammed at rush hour.

The most vocal advocates for the bridge include Arapahoe County’s Cunningham Fire District Chief Ira Rhodes and Sheriff Grayson Robinson, who argue the link is vital to ensure provision of emergency services to the residents of the area.

Lehmann, who represents the adjacent Denver neighborhoods, has supported construction of a bridge that would permit only emergency vehicle use. (Access to the bridge would be controlled by the same technology that allows emergency vehicles to change traffic signals during emergency runs.)

But Lehmann has opposed a larger bridge open to general vehicle traffic, believing it would flood nearby Denver neighborhoods with unacceptable levels of traffic. Lehmann has based her opposition in part on the results of a neighborhood discussion of the topic she convened in 2004.
According to Lehmann’s counts, local residents approved construction of an emergency-vehicle-only connection, but most of the 90-plus meeting attendees opposed building the bridge for general commuter traffic under any circumstance.

But in a meeting last April, Arapahoe County Commissioners, who have budgeted more than $5 million for the bridge, decided to drop discussion of the “emergency access-only” connection. Referring to Denver’s position as “the height of NIMBYism,” Arapahoe Commissioner Susan Beckmann declared “I don’t want to hear about the safety bridge again.”

Instead, the commissioners, who believe the “safety bridge” is too expensive for the benefits it provides, decided to pursue acquisition of the property from Denver “by any means necessary,” including condemnation.

Condemnation is local government’s “big stick.” It permits acquisition of property from unwilling sellers through exercise of “eminent domain,” a process not often used in local intergovernmental land use disputes. If the commissioners follow through on their plan, it seems certain to set back progress in regional collaboration.

Some in Denver blame Arapahoe County for a lack of foresight in permitting dense development without sufficient transportation access. However, the county points to repeated assurances from Denver Public Works staff that Denver would cooperate in expanding traffic capacity in the area.

It seems unlikely that real winners will emerge as the Wabash bridge development process lurches forward. Instead, Colorado’s sad tradition of uncoordinated and piecemeal local government “growth planning” seems destined to claim another bit of our region’s rapidly disappearing natural corridors — and neighborhood peace.

Denver resident Andrew Wallach (awallden@comcast.net) was raised in Arapahoe County.

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