January 23, 2009 12:09 AM UTC

Westword Takes Long Look at "The Beltway"

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• by: Colorado Pols

The issue of building a “Beltway” in Jefferson County has been long and contentious. But is it getting closer to reality? And perhaps most concerning – if it is – concerns the fact that it is starting to look a lot like the debacle that became the private toll road in Broomfield.

From Westword:

Jefferson County has a bold vision for how to brand itself as a leader in the new green economy. Officials talk about smart development, open space, multi-modal transportation, renewable energy and progressive technology that will lessen our country’s dependence on fossil fuels. So what’s Jeffco’s solution?

Another highway.

Not just any highway, either. The proposed $813 million Jefferson Parkway will be a high-speed tollway stretching some fourteen miles through the last undeveloped quadrant in the metro region. Boosters – Broomfield and Arvada primary among them – see the road as a catalyst for massive building growth in the area, potentially dumping billions into the local economy through high-end commercial and office development…

…While Bill Ray, deputy city manager of Arvada and JPPHA’s interim director, says the authority hasn’t gotten any formal queries from companies looking to build the toll road, there’s definitely interest. “I certainly have a lot of people who hand me their business cards and say, ‘When you guys get ready to do something, if you can give me a call, I’d appreciate it,'” he says.

The JPPHA has heard from several mega-investment consortiums in Europe, South America and Australia, and hopes to enter into formal discussions with interested parties this month; boardmembers are currently working to secure the preliminary approvals from local, state and federal transportation authorities that will allow them to seek proposals from investors. At that point, the JPPHA will get into detailed contract negotiations with would-be operators. Right now, the leading contender looks to be Brisa Auto-Estradas…

…The Jefferson Economic Council study considered the impact of three areas along the proposed parkway route, and all the projections regarding jobs and housing were based on numbers “provided by the Jefferson Economic Council, developers, property owners and other stakeholders,” according to the study. But the only developer and property owner listed in the reference section of the study is Church Ranch Development Company. CRDC owners Charles McKay and Gregg Bradbury, who gave $1,800 to McCasky’s recent reelection campaign, own 365 acres in Broomfield adjacent to Rocky Mountain Airport that they hope to develop into housing and a corporate center, as well as 426 acres in west Arvada that will be the first to be developed into the 2,000-acre Candelas.

But wait! There’s more…

“What we know is that private investors almost always insist on these things,” Smith says. “And you’ve got Kevin McCasky and Kathy Hartman as lead champions on building this thing. Yeah, they’re saying they don’t believe in congestion guarantees, but at the same time they’re saying let’s go to the market and see what happens. They know that the market insists on congestion guarantees, so either they’re setting themselves up for failure or they’re holding open the option of congestion guarantees. Either way, it’s crazy.

“The JPPHA wouldn’t be able to impose a congestion guarantee on Golden,” he continues. “But if I lived in Arvada, I would be very concerned.”

On January 1, E-470 raised tolls by fifty cents, as did the Northwest Parkway. This was the second time that Brisa has raised tolls since taking over the Northwest Parkway a little more than a year ago; it now costs a driver $3 per trip to use the road.

At its meeting January 15, the JPPHA board will start developing the terms of whatever deal they’ll offer a private partner in the Jefferson Parkway. With the Northwest Parkway, all the politicians who made the deal and the citizens who voted for them will be long gone, while their children and their children’s children continue to pay tolls to a foreign corporation until Brisa’s lease expires in 2106.

It could be just as long – if not longer – before all the concrete dust settles over the Jefferson Parkway.