April 04, 2014 12:36 PM UTC

Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher Pushes Back on I-70 Expansion

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Denver Post reports:

A proposal to expand Interstate 70 to five lanes in each direction through northeast Denver is attracting the ire of Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher, who feels the idea doesn't make sense for neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

Widening the highway to 10 lanes when people are driving less is a waste of the $1.8 billion the Colorado Department of Transportation plans to spend between Brighton Boulevard and Tower Road, Gallagher said.

"It makes no sense to me and is not good public policy to build a 10-lane freeway when it likely will never be needed, may in point of fact be obsolete sooner than later, is destructive to neighborhoods, and a wasteful expenditure of taxpayer dollars," he said.