When Amanda Sandoval and Amanda Sawyer were elected to the Denver City Council, from District 1 and District 5 respectively, this Editorial Board could not have been more thrilled. We strongly endorsed both candidates as women who would take strong stands against Mayor Hancock when appropriate. Sawyer upset incumbent Mary Beth Susman, who had decided to become little more than a shill for Hancock and his developer buddies. Sandoval, on the other hand, had been the aide to former Councilmember Rafael Espinoza, arguably the best councilman in the previous Council term. But he decided he could be more effective on the outside rather than in government and would be there to help, and assist Sandoval, when needed.
District 5 Denver City Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer
As far as opposing Hancock when needed each has done an outstanding job. But as for being decent human beings each has been an abysmal failure. Lord Acton the famous 19th century historian said: “All power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He noted that such people are not innately evil. They begin as decent human beings but soon evolve.
We have watched Denver City Council members come and go for decades now. It is an interesting process to observe. Many were relatively powerless prior to coming to office and that certainly was the case with the Amandas. Sandoval came from a highly political family but was known for her kindness and appreciation for others. Sawyer had lots of degrees, both a JD and an MBA. She had moved to Hilltop with her husband to raise their five children and had no political background. With the help of the EMERGE program, which trains Democratic women for political office, she prevailed.
It didn’t take either one very long to begin attacking and denigrating anyone who got in their way. For both, they always asserted that they were being “bullied” when they were, in fact, the biggest bullies. Sawyer claims any opposition to her is “sexist,” and Sandoval quickly claims everything is “racist.”
At times Sandoval appears to represent only the Latinx community. When Sandoval spearheaded the change of the name of Columbus Park to La Raza Park (which means The Race Park) she seemed clueless on why African Americans seemed to wonder whether they were welcome at the park. Her relations with the black community took a deep dive when she was booed at a City Council meeting after stating: “I support a lot of things that are going on. But it’s the same violence that is happening in our community. It’s Black on Black. It’s brown on brown.”
District 1 Denver City Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval
The black community began a “Recall Sandoval” campaign. She claimed she and her entire family were being threatened by something called the Afro Liberation Front and she went tribal. She asserted the Chicanos who had gone before her had been afraid, at times, but always showed up. She asked her supporters to take over the streets of North Denver. While everything eventually calmed down, starting race wars in District 1 was not previously thought to be one of the functions of a Denver City Councilmember.
If anything, Amanda Sawyer has been worse. She decided to try to destroy the career of an employee at the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI). She threatened to block every DOTI bill and grind the department into the ground unless she was given her way. When the employee responded in his defense, she declared it was sexist and claimed people were trying to smear her. She and her attorney wrote extremely unprofessional letters, claiming false and sexist attacks and threatening to file legal actions. A spokesperson for Hancock responded: “As far as I know there is no precedent for a member of city council, or any public servant, to communicate with the Mayor’s office this way.” Leave it to Amanda Sawyer to accomplish the impossible of making Mayor Hancock look sympathetic.
The Chronicle’s reporter Robert Davis recently had a chance to experience the full Amandas treatment. In a story on page 15 of the March 2021 edition of the Chronicle, he incorrectly indicated that Amanda Sandoval voted against the Group Living Amendment when it was, in fact, Amanda Sawyer. No apologies were enough for the Amandas. When alerted on Sunday morning, February 28, 2021, The Chronicle’s Executive Editor immediately changed the online version and updated the photo used in the story. This was also not sufficient. Nor was the declaration that a correction would be placed in this month’s printed edition (see Correction below).
If you believe them, Mr. Davis was clearly a misogynist. Amanda Sawyer immediately posted on Twitter where she joined Denver School Board Director Tay Anderson in attacking the paper. Separately, she has claimed that the Chronicle is out to get her, even though she has received overwhelmingly positive coverage from this paper since assuming office.
As a practical matter, newspapers from the Chronicle to The New York Times make inadvertent errors, and all papers can do is acknowledge the mistakes and move forward. As for the Amandas, we have had it with them. We will continue to report on them fairly. But like many people and businesses in Districts 1 and 5, Amanda Sandoval and Amanda Sawyer have lost all goodwill and this newspaper will not hesitate to defend and protect those people they unfairly and viciously attack. You can oppose Mayor Hancock without being total jerks, notwithstanding what Amanda Sandoval and Amanda Sawyer think.
Editorial Board
Correction
In the March 2021 edition, on page 15, the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle printed a story titled “Denver Approves Controversial Group Living Amendment.” Within the story, we mistakenly identified Councilmember Amanda Sandoval voting against the amendment when in fact it was Councilmember Amanda Sawyer who voted against it. We regret the error.
We at the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle received the great tidings that Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis had magnanimously decided that our “frontline journalists” would be part of the frontline for COVID-19 vaccinations. The definition of a “frontline journalist” is so loose that almost anyone working at the Chronicle qualifies. How glorious! We in the media have, of course, thought of ourselves as more special and better than the people we report on and if you have any doubts just ask Channel 9’s Kyle Clark. It is just so wonderful that Governor Polis has recognized the same. One of these days you too may be eligible for this life saving vaccine, but there is no great urgency on that front.
It is also great that the governor gets to make those life and death decisions. He has been ruling by proclamation for close to an entire year now with no end of the emergency in site. We, in theory, have a pesky election for the office in November of 2022, but why go to the annoyance of that charade. Polis spent over $23 million of his money in the last election and it is said he is willing to double that next time to harvest ballots.
Polis helped push campaign finance reform laws which make it impossible for anyone who is not extremely wealthy to win the governorship. It is amazing how laws that the purported purpose was to eliminate big money out of politics, in fact, allow only the wealthy to hold the top statewide office.
The COVID-19 emergency has worked out wonderfully for some. Many government workers and public school teachers have had a very nice, long vacation and are in no hurry to get back to full-time work anytime soon. Big box retailers and Amazon have grown wealthy on the backs of small businesses. Restaurants and bars have been decimated despite recent studies showing they do not particularly spread COVID-19. It just does not matter.
It also does not matter that highly effective treatments for COVID-19 exist if you’re wealthy and know the right doctors. During the pandemic the rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer but is not that the way it always works? The rich are in no hurry to end the emergency here in Colorado or anywhere else for that matter.
No, just sit back and enjoy the second year of the COVID-19 emergency. You cannot do anything about it even if you wanted to. The governor will one day make you eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine just like us “frontline journalists,” just not anytime soon.
Editorial Board
You are so “special” Kyle. Governor Jared Polis (left) deemed “frontline journalists” like Channel 9 News anchor Kyle Clark (below) as so special as to deserve front of the line treatment for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fight Over Unbuffered HOV Lanes Breaks Out At CDOT
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Heading For The Hills?: CDOT’s highly controversial head Shoshana Lew who is blamed by certain CDOT employees for the proliferation of non-buffered HOV lanes across the Front Range which they believe will cause dangerous car accidents in Colorado for many a decade. She is rumored to be desperately seeking a job in Washington, D.C., with the anticipated Biden administration.
Highly controversial Colorado Department Of Transportation (CDOT) Director Shoshana Lew is leading the agency into adopting unbarricaded/ non-buffered HOV lanes throughout the Front Range, including on I-25, C-470 and I-70. Lanes which — according to individuals who, for obvious reasons, do not wish to be identified for fear of losing their jobs within CDOT — are unsafe for drivers, and whose sole purpose is to provide money for the private companies that are helping to fund the projects. There will be close to 200 miles of highly dangerous roads in the Front Range under Lew’s planning. Originally CDOT created barricaded HOV lanes along U.S. Highway 36 and into and out of downtown Denver on I-25, which proved successful as safe passage for drivers and a good value for those who could afford them.
The purpose of the non-buffered HOV lanes are, according to CDOT, inter alia:
• Making safety improvements to reduce the number of crashes and fatalities.
• Decreasing travel time and increasing trip reliability (at least for those who can afford them).
• Employing congestion management to improve the travel experience.
But disgruntled CDOT employees argue non-buffered lanes accomplish none of the stated goals and, in fact, are being done to satisfy Lew’s increasingly desperate need for money. The state legislature has repeatedly refused to increase CDOT’s funding levels. In the fall of 2019, Colorado citizens turned down, by an 11 point margin, Proposition CC which would have allowed CDOT to use for its purposes the refunds taxpayers would have otherwise gotten under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.
Extremely bitter about the election results, Lew and CDOT increasingly turned to private investors who would fund the road expansions in so-called Private Public Partnerships or P3s. The investors, all of whom come from outside Colorado, are primarily interested in ensuring a solid return on their investments. They do not view it as their task to worry about the safety of Colorado drivers or their traveling experience. Unfortunately, while CDOT is generally responsible for such concerns, Lew herself does not view private cars as a solution to Colorado’s transportation needs and thus has little interest in the safety and convenience of private car drivers.
Buffered HOV lanes came quickly off the bargaining table. Lew’s HOV lanes would be separated from general purpose lanes simply by a couple of white lines. There was no one at the table to represent the car driving public as noted by some longtime CDOT employees who recognized what was happening.
First and foremost, studies have repeatedly shown that non-buffered HOV lanes do not decrease crashes and fatalities as claimed by Lew and CDOT but, in fact, increase them. A seminal 1979 Federal Highway Administration study found that a lack of physical separation between HOV and general-purpose lanes creates operational and safety problems, causing illegal maneuvers and speed differential between HOV lanes and the adjoining general-purpose lanes.
A study in 2004 published by the Texas Transportation Institute found that non-barrier HOV lanes experienced 41-56% higher injury crash rates compared to barrier-separated lanes. The increased injury crash rates were “likely due to the speed differential between the HOV and the adjacent general purpose lane.”
Safe HOV Lanes: CDOT originally built barricaded HOV lanes on I-25 and Highway 36. The double lanes proved to be safe and highly convenient for those who could afford them.
Similar studies conducted have reached similar conclusions in Virginia, California, Florida, and Minnesota. Because CDOT will, in effect, be putting people’s lives in danger by recklessly adopting non-buffered lanes, some wonder why there hasn’t been at least a debate or public discussion at some level in Colorado government.
Long-term CDOT employees blame Lew whose closed secretive nature is legendary. They view her as an incompetent elitist who believes, like the character played by Jack Nicholson in the movie A Few Good Men, that the public “can’t handle the truth.” Thus, she mandated that the life and death decisions concerning non-buffered HOV lanes should be made outside the public purview by a few CDOT allies of Lew and the out-of-state investors.
Longtime CDOT employees also point out how bad an investment those drivers who use the non-buffered HOV lanes are getting. The non-buffered lanes become incredibly congested during rush hours as frustrated drivers pay little or no attention to the two white lines separating the HOV lane and the adjoining general-purpose lane. There is therefore little or no “decrease in travel time” or “increased travel reliability” or “congestion management to improve the travel experience” for users of non-buffered HOV lanes. As one transportation expert who did not wish to be identified stated: “Why would anyone pay to increase their risk of being hurt in a car crash in a dangerous and often highly congested non-buffered HOV lane.”
Unsafe HOV Lanes: Under Lew unbuffered HOV lanes have proliferated which are single lanes separated from the adjoining general purpose lanes by a couple of stripped lines. Certain CDOT employees say these HOV lanes are dangerous and will cause untold number of car accidents.
Another highly troubling aspect of Lew’s non-buffered HOV lanes is that they are usually only one lane for each direction. If a driver in the non-buffered HOV lane decides to go at or below the speed limit there is no legal way to get around that driver, causing increased incidents of road rage by drivers who paid to be in the HOV lane so they could get to where they wanted to go in a quicker manner.
Lew, CDOT and the out-of-state investors are relying on the doctrine of “sovereign immunity” against the inevitable lawsuits involving drivers getting killed in dangerous non-buffered HOV lanes. Moreover, Lew is reportedly desperate to jump ship and move back to Washington, D.C., where her highly politically connected family lives, and get a job somewhere in the anticipated Biden administration. The carnage she is creating on Colorado highways will, however, last for generations, according to CDOT employees.
Artist’s Rendition: The engineering firm of Harris Kocher Smith prepared this drawing of AvalonBay’s Governor’s Park at the old Racines restaurant site. Neighborhood activists note that even this glamorized version not a single tree or blade of grass is provided for the entire block.
The next apparent target for high density developers in Denver is Governor’s Park at 7th and Logan. The small park is overlooked by Colorado’s residence for its governor which was contributed for that purpose by the Boettcher Foundation in 1959. The mansion was built in 1908 and had been the residence of Gladys Cheesman and her family, and then financial titan Claude Boettcher. The park was once part of the mansion’s grounds.
The park has a small children’s’ playground although, at times, Mayor Hancock has let the park be overrun by homeless campers. The present threat to the park is not to build directly on the park, but to eliminate sunlight to the area and block views of the Rockies with a massive apartment complex west of the park on the old Racines restaurant land that was recently sold to the high-density developer AvalonBay, a massive publicly traded real estate trust founded in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1978. It owns 79,636 apartment units and had $2.3 billion in revenues last year. The complex will have 305 units as presently configured and have up to 13 stories.
Birds Of A Feather: Shannon Gifford, above, the mayor’s Deputy Projects Officer, has been nicknamed the “Queen of Projects” for, inter alia, not recognizing being a CDOT commissioner for District 1 while being under the control of Mayor Hancock as an employee of the Mayor’s office. Lawyer Tom Ragonetti, right, of the firm Otten and Johnson is known as one of the most effective lawyer lobbyists in Denver and is seen by some as an arch-enemy of Denver’s neighborhoods on behalf of high-density developers. The two appear to be in cahoots to squash any bureaucratic opposition to AvalonBay’s massive apartment complex which would seriously damage Governor’s Park and the surrounding neighborhood.
In response the residents of the area formed Citizens to Save Governor’s Park with representatives from the boards of the four largest condominium complexes in the area on the steering committee. The organization is headed up by longtime resident of the area Ryan Ross. Squaring off against a billionaire corporation and what is widely viewed as a corrupt Denver Community Planning and Development Department, the residents face another David versus Goliath struggle.
Neighborhood Advocate: Ryan Ross is heading opposition to AvalonBay’s massive apartment complex through the new neighborhood organization Citizens to Save Governor’s Park.
Ross stated to the Chronicle: “All we want is to have a project in scale and height that is in line with all the other projects in the area. If this is approved as proposed, it will be the beginning of the end of Governor’s Park as an area you would want to live in. Governor’s Park is worth fighting for.”
The massive project’s principal impediment has been attempting to obtain a variance for a curb cut for access for cars off Sherman Street from its parking area. An email obtained by the Chronicle shows how corrupt the process has become for Denver’s high-density apartment projects.
There are almost no massive apartment complexes without some direct street access to parking for the residents and guests. The developer wanted a variance for a curb cut to Sherman Street but the city’s Community Planning and Development Department was balking. Mayor Hancock has repeatedly assured citizens that his office does not interfere with development decisions, but it is, of course, a blatant lie as shown by this email chain.
Man Under The Gun: Eulois Clerkley, the Executive Director of Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is being bullied and squeezed by Gifford and Ragonetti to find a way to get AvalonBay’s Racine project approved notwithstanding serious traffic and other assorted problems.
AvalonBay had their variance for a curb cut on Sherman Street denied by Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), and the appeal was denied in mid-August 2020. It was time for AvalonBay to make a call for “lawyers, guns and money.” The lawyers were the law firm of Otten and Johnson and, in particular, their infamous “fix it” man on Denver real estate projects Tom Ragonetti. He, his firm’s partners and clients have provided significant “money” for the mayor’s various election campaigns. For political “guns” they went directly to the mayor who put his “fix it” woman to solve any such problems, Shannon Gifford on it. Her title is Deputy Chief Projects Officer Mayor’s Office for the Greater Area. But don’t let the unassuming title fool you. In emails she calls herself simply “Deputy Manager,” apparently for the whole city.
Bird’s Eye View: The overview of the Racines block that AvalonBay wants to turn into a massive apartment complex.
The 62-year-old Gifford was brought in last November to take on the mayor’s sleaziest projects. She had a great background in the same as the Commissioner for District 1 (Denver) to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), which she was appointed to in 2013. Not apparently aware of the clear conflicts of interest in being both the state commissioner of CDOT and city employee representing the Mayor’s Office, she has not resigned her CDOT post according the CDOT website.
Regarding the Racines project, the hammer came down on August 5 in an email to DOTI’s Executive Director Eulois Cleckley. Yes, the same Mr. Cleckley that got into a highly public war with Councilwoman Susan Shepherd who claimed he insulted and demeaned council members by not being willing to answer questions regarding transportation issues, and only listened to what Mayor Hancock or his Chief of Staff Alan Salazar told him.
In the email Gifford is not subtle in what the mayor’s demands are. She declares she did not understand:
Governor’s Mansion: High density developers in Denver are looking for virtually any park or open space they can exploit. Developer AvalonBay hopes to build a 13 story, 305-unit apartment complex at the old Racines restaurant site which would prevent any afternoon light or mountain views for Governor’s Park located behind the landmark Governor’s Mansion.
“. . , the current general policy regarding curb cuts in connection with new developments.”
She demanded a new “written policy” on curb cuts. She then reveals who is really behind the email:
“More specially, I hear regularly from Tom Ragonetti, regarding his client Avalon Bay on the Racines site and the appeal for a variance to obtain a limited curb cuts from Sherman Street. . . . Tom Ragonetti, and his client feel a direct deal of urgency about it. As I said he reaches out regularly to me about it. . . . What are the options.”
Neighborhood Icon: Racines restaurant had been a neighborhood and city icon for breakfast, lunch and dinner since 1983. It is proposed that the block on which it was located become another high-density apartment complex by the multi-billion-dollar REIT AvalonBay.
Experts indicate it is an apparent gross ethics violation for the mayor and his office to interfere with what should be a quasi-judicial process of granting or denial of a variance. Neighborhood groups are looking into it with attorneys whether criminal statues were violated.
Ultimately, the appeal was denied so Ragonetti and AvalonBay now seek to get approval without a variance. They plan to pour all of the traffic through the alleyway onto Grant Street. It is doubtful that project could or should be approved which would potentially destroy Grant Street’s traffic viability. With Ragonetti interfering with the process, with the backing of Mayor Hancock, anything is possible.
You can contact Citizens to Save Governor’s Park through its website savegovernorspark.org.
The future for the average motorist in
Colorado is going to be bleak according to insiders at the Colorado Department
of Transportation (CDOT) which is the state agency in charge of the
transportation needs of the people of Colorado. In a 99-page study provided in
December by CDOT to the Colorado Legislature, the department claimed to need
$14 million to $84 million annually in increased fees with Executive Director
Shoshana Lew stating in a cover letter that the state’s “transportation funding
is insufficient and outdated.”
Haves And Have Nots: The future for Colorado motorists will separate the haves and the have nots. Those who can afford it, will be able to sail through what is often referred to as the Lexus lanes, above left, and those who cannot, will be stuck in traffic.
The requested fees increase would in fact
be of little help to the embattled state agency which has little desire or
funding to save the failing roads system in Colorado. Although seldom starkly
expressed, Lew’s plan is to make driving in Colorado so painful that many
average Coloradans will abandon their cars in favor of a public transit alternative.
She understands the inconvenience and unpleasantness of Colorado’s public
transportation system and that the state’s most affluent residents will likely
want to retain the convenience of their own automobiles. Under the radar CDOT
is creating a two tier system — revenue or “Lexus” lanes for those who can
afford it and massive traffic congestion for the general public.
Four major projects in and around Denver
demonstrate this new approach:
• $1.3
billion 10 mile Central I-70 Project in Denver;
• $500
million I-25 North Expansion Project north of Denver;
• $350
million 18 mile I-25 GAP Project south of Denver; and
• $226
million 12.5-mile C-470 Project southwest of Denver.
Many motorists are outraged when they learn
that billions of dollars in expenditures and massive construction
inconveniences will not provide a single additional lane of road for the
average motorist. CDOT effectively has slammed shut state firms from the
ability to bid on the projects so almost all projects are done by massive out-of-state
conglomerates at inflated prices. The following four massive projects reveal
what is in store for the people of the state.
C-470 Project
C470: The 12.5 miles between Wadsworth and I-25 in Douglas County is one of the busiest stretches of roads in Colorado with over 100,000 cars traveling it every day. The $226 million spent is solely for Lexus lanes while the general public will be forced to use the same two lanes east and west.
The 12.5 miles between Wadsworth and I-25
in Douglas County is one of the busiest stretches of roads in Colorado with
over 100,000 cars traveling it every day. The $226 million spent is solely for
Lexus lanes while the general public will be forced to use the same two lanes
east and west. CDOT did not have the funds, and did not want to ask the public
for the borrowing as required by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). It
therefore set up an enterprise fund titled The High Performance Transportation
Enterprise (HPTE) which issued $161.7 million in revenue bonds and borrowed
$106.9 million in loans from federal sources. The revenue from the Lexus lanes
will go to pay back the loans, but even after the payoff, decades in the
future, they are not expected to ever open the lanes to nonpaying drivers.
CDOT expects by 2030 the car usage will
jump to 140,000 cars daily making travel ever more highly congested and
allowing CDOT to charge ever increasing premium prices for their Lexus lanes.
The contract to build the 12.5 miles of
road was not low bid (LB) but awarded on a design build (DB) concept to a joint
venture of Flatiron Construction (a subsidiary of the massive German
conglomerate HOCHTIEF) and AECOM, a large engineering firm out of Los Angeles.
It is one of the few large projects in Colorado not awarded to the virtual
duopoly of Kraemer North America LLC (a subsidiary of the Japanese construction
giant Obayashi Corporation), and Kiewit
Corporation, a Fortune 500 construction firm based in Omaha, Nebraska.
The project has been in constant delays and
CDOT sent a letter of default to Flatiron/AECOM who in turn indicated the
failures have been due to CDOT’s gross incompetence and the agency’s ongoing
effort to try to blame everyone else for its internal problems. The latest
delayed opening projection is in June of 2021.
I-25 Gap Project
I-25 Gap: The Gap Project will cost $350 million with the state providing $250 million, $65 million from the federal government, and $35 million from local governments including El Paso and Douglas counties.
If you are traveling south on I-25 after
completing the 12.5 miles of C-470 you will need to take your wallet out
quickly enough to travel the 18 miles from Monument to Castle Rock in more
Lexus lanes. That stretch of road is two lanes each way and CDOT says it is so
dangerous that two State Patrol officers have recently died in accidents using
the road. Of course, it is not really clear why it would be any less dangerous
to the average motorist who doesn’t get to use the one additional Lexus lane
each way other than some minor road shoulder expansion on existing lanes. The
Gap Project will cost $350 million with the state providing $250 million, $65
million from the federal government, $35 million from local governments
including El Paso and Douglas counties. Westword has been chronicling the
traffic nightmares imposed on the average motorist in articles titled “Traffic
Nightmare Closures Come to I-25.” Few are aware the only beneficiary of the
money and the traffic are to be the affluent who are willing to pay the fees
for the Lexus lanes and political outrage will occur when the public does find
out.
This project was awarded by CDOT to Kraemer
not on a competitive bid process but by Construction Management/General
Contractor method (CMGC) by which over 80 percent of such projects are awarded
to either Kraemer or Kiewit. This project is also haunted by numerous delays
and is now not expected to be finished until 2022. As with all CDOT projects
CDOT blames the contractor and the contractor blames CDOT.
I-25 North Express LanesMead To Fort Collins
I-25 North Express Lanes: The Mead to Fort Collins project was originally set for 13.5 miles for $250 million and awarded to Kraemer. Later when an additional $250 to $300 million of funding was located another 4.5 miles was added.
If you head north instead of south on I-25
after leaving C-470 you cannot escape the Lexus lanes. The Mead to Fort Collins
project was originally for 13.5 miles for $250 million and awarded to Kraemer.
Later when an additional $250 to $300 million of funding was located another
4.5 miles was added. Without even pretending to look for competitive bids CDOT
simply gave it to their friends at Kraemer, based on a so-called “change
order.”
Central I-70 Project
Central I-70: The most controversial and costly of all of the recent CDOT projects is the 10 mile stretch of I-70 from Chambers Road to I-25 which comes in at a whopping $1.3 billion dollars.
The most controversial and costly of all of
the recent CDOT projects is the 10 mile stretch of I-70 from Chambers Road to
I-25 which comes in at a whopping $1.3 billion dollars. For that money, in the
end all you get is a Lexus lane going each way. The road, instead of going over
the neighborhoods of Elyria and Swansea with a viaduct, goes down to the
neighborhoods and then back up with a viaduct above the road with a park on it.
Why this incredibly expensive alternative was chosen is not totally clear but
it is blamed on the Brighton viaduct being obsolete. It certainly was not to
help the residents of those neighborhoods who adamantly opposed it. Because the
project essentially creates a ditch which would be subject to floods, various
parts of parks in central Denver (City Park and Park Hill) were commandeered to
act as flood water detention ponds to the outrage of those residents
surrounding those parks. It is assumed that the friends of Mayor Hancock will
greatly benefit financially from grounding the roadway and the land has been
dubbed the “Mayor’s Corridor of Opportunity.”
As a design build project, it was awarded
to a joint venture Kiewit and the French global investment group Meridiam
Partners. What is somewhat unique about the relationship is that it was set up
as a public/ private partnership or P3 which means the joint venture will pay
the costs of the project while getting the revenue from the Lexus lanes for at
least 30 years. It has been said about P3s that, generally speaking, the public
gets the losses while the private entities get the profits.
As with all CDOT’s major projects the
Central I-70 project is years behind. CDOT blames the contractors while the
contractors blames CDOT. It is not clear why CDOT can never do a major project
on time regardless of who the contractor is.
The Future Of Transportation In Colorado And CDOT
It is clear that CDOT under Shoshana Lew is
generally not interested in building roads for the citizens of Colorado and
where CDOT does build roads they are only for the affluent who can afford the
Lexus lanes which will become ever more costly. By using CMGTC and DB methods
and not competitive low bids CDOT set a duopoly for Kraemer and Kiewit which
charges 30 percent more for every project. In addition, CDOT pays a quarter
billion dollars to consultants every year to perform the tasks that CDOT once
performed but is now unwilling to do. Major projects in turn are almost never
performed on time with massive inconvenience to the motoring public.
As highlighted in our Editorial on page 3, the disgraceful state of affairs has not gone unnoticed. CDOT and Lew are increasingly coming under investigation, including by the U.S. Department of Justice, for their practices which may violate various federal statutes. But unless and until the citizens of Colorado become cognizant and angered about what is happening to their transportation system, no long-term solution will be possible.
