The Destruction Of Hale Parkway

by Regan Bervar | Feb 24, 2020 | Main Articles

Denver’s Hale neighborhood is an historic community tucked between Colorado Boulevard and Holly Streets to the west and east, respectively, and Colfax Ave. and 6th Ave. to the north and south. This relatively quiet area is fairly unique in that the north/south grid is diagonally distinguished by a tree-lined, two-lane, median-separated stretch of picturesque road called Hale Parkway.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Development in the area began in the 1930s and, as geography would have it, a creek flowed on a northwest/southeast angle through marshland along the path where Hale Parkway now exists. The creek was part of the Upper Montclair Basin runoff system, directing rainwater toward the Platte River basin to the northwest. By the 1940s, the area was developed, and the old riverbed was wiped away and soon-to-be forgotten by residents, but not by topography. When heavy rainfall hits the area, the one-time natural waterway can be quickly transformed into a saturated urban thoroughfare with flood levels up to three feet high.

A Diagonal Asset

Today, the marshlands have been replaced by mostly residential structures along with the significantly large Rose Medical Center and University of Colorado Hospital campuses. Hale Parkway is a local treasure, boasting a series of lush, park-like medians that are home to a total of 80 large, mature trees and 40 smaller trees and shrubs. Hale Parkway is one of just 35 designated parkways and boulevards across the Mile High City recognized as such by the Denver City government. This stretch of road gives the community a distinctively quaint feel, as its diagonal trajectory works as a cohesive, common feature which unites the neighborhood.

An Extreme Scheme

The redesign project proposed by the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (now the newly-branded Mile High Flood District [MHFD]) holds drastic measures for the parkway. These initiatives which would effectively diminish the purpose and function of the roadway and the appeal of the area at large. The plan calls for the permanent removal of the two north lanes carrying traffic west from 8th Avenue to Colorado Blvd. The removal of features would also include the grassy park-like medians, all flora and foliage therein as well as several dozen parking spaces (65 total) for area residents. A series of large drainage pipes would replace the lanes, spaces and medians while east/west traffic would be funneled to side-by-side opposing lanes in place of the two existing eastbound lanes. Local property owners are highly upset that the redesign would severely diminish real estate values. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of the area has residents at large concerned with an imminent traffic congestion problem. As the number of inhabitants is set to increase, the redesign would decrease the area’s ability to effectively accommodate all the new traffic.

Violation Of Internal Rules

Further, the proposed measures are in blatant breach of the Denver Design Guidelines published by the City and County of Denver in 2005. Page 14 of the guide pledges to “Respect and preserve the historic or original design of the parkway or boulevard. Components of the original design usually include the street cross section, tree lawn, median (if appropriate), adjacent street pattern, building setback and private yard, building siting, topography and plantings.” Also, a subsequent section claims that the city will “Preserve the spaces and relationships that are part of the original or historic parkway or boulevard construction including the continuous open space created by the building setback.” Clearly, the MHFD is proposing to infringe on the very rules set by its parent authority — the Denver City Government.

Plausible Alternatives?

With the Cherry Creek waterway located just two miles to the south and flowing northwest to the Platte River, it would seem that returning an unassuming one mile stretch of road in Hale to its former watershed function is inconsequential. Some residents are imploring MHFD to consider alternative means of managing rainwater overflow in the area. Others are outraged, seeing the beauty-sacrificing redesign as a grossly lopsided and ultimately futile misappropriation of taxpayer funds. Aligning with this viewpoint is not difficult. Driving through Hale trying to visualize the proposed measures put into place is like imagining a jagged, diagonal tear through the cross stitchings of a gorgeous tapestry; unsightly, unnecessary, and utterly without purpose.

BOVO v. BOVO A ‘War Of The Roses’ Breaks Out Between One Of Glendale’s Most Prominent Couples

by Mark Smiley | Feb 24, 2020 | Main Articles

by Julie Hayden

Paula and Todd Bovo are one of Glendale’s most prominent power couples. She was a council member and then Mayor Pro Tem of the city from 2010 to 2016, with a publicly expressed aspiration to become the governor of Colorado. He started one of the city’s most well known and aggressive personal injury firms with offices in the penthouse of the Cherry Creek Plaza at 650 South Cherry Street. They were married in 2009. Paula was also an attorney and she became his legal partner in the Bovo Law firm. She helped prepare cases for trial and he usually acted as lead counsel in court. The couple were frequent guests at civic, social and charitable events in Glendale and Denver.

Marriages, of course, can turn sour and the circumstances can be greatly aggravated when the couple are also business partners. For the Bovos it is now full out warfare in and out of court. She publicly and in court pleadings alleges that he is a domestic violence perpetrator against both her and the couples’ two children. He in turn vigorously disputes those claims and asserts that she is a serial liar and person who regularly betrays the trust of those around her.

Their allegations and counter allegations have spilled over into public and professional arenas.

Court Documents

Public records show the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department has responded to the Bovo home twice on domestic violence calls. Both times officers left without arresting anyone, an unusual result in these kinds of cases.

In a May 2017 incident Paula Bovo called 911 claiming her husband was destroying property inside their home. The report indicates that she videotaped Todd “yelling and cussing” but adds “she stated at no time did he threaten her or the kids and did not physically touch her… .” Deputies left without making any arrests.

According to another Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Report, Paula Bovo called 911 again in March 2019, saying, “She is scared he (Todd) will hurt her.” Reporting officers say Paula told them Todd said, “I’m going to kill you” and that he was “going to burn the house down.” Officers say they talked with Todd on scene who denied making any such threats. Officers noted the Bovos “both had conflicting stories” and that neither could be confirmed. Responding officers wrote, “We could not substantiate that a crime had occurred” and once again left without making any arrests.

Abuse allegations rose again in divorce proceedings when Paula Bovo sought a restraining order against Todd Bovo. But that was thrown out in a May 2019 decision by an Arapahoe County Judge who ruled, “Based on the evidence and testimony presented to the court …. the court hereby dissolves the temporary protection order as to all parties.” The judge also cancelled a second hearing that had been set on the same allegations.

It is in those proceedings where the accusations shift into Paula Bovo’s public and professional life. The Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle has obtained two subpoenas issued by Todd Bovo, one to a prominent Denver attorney and the other to KCNC Investigative Reporter Brian Maass for them to appear at the May restraining order hearing that was subsequently dismissed by the Judge. In court filings, Paula claims the subpoenas are Todd’s efforts to harass her. But he claims they go to the heart of her credibility issues.

Alleged Assault On Boat

The attorney, who the Chronicle is not naming, consulted with the Bovos’ law firm on a civil case in 2018. Todd says in August of that year Paula told him she was meeting the attorney at the couple’s boat docked at Cherry Creek Reservoir. She apparently bought several bottles of wine for the rendezvous and the two of them cruised on Cherry Creek Reservoir. Todd claims when she came home, she was extremely upset and crying and claimed the attorney sexually assaulted her. Todd said she did not want to call police but in later months frequently mentioned the alleged assault to other people.

Mike Smith, a paralegal litigator who works with both Paula and Todd Bovo at their law firm, said she had also told him the attorney sexually assaulted her on the boat in the Cherry Creek Reservoir. “It was a few days after she met (the attorney) at the dock at Cherry Creek State Park and she was upset and finally expressed she had met (the attorney) there and that things were okay for a moment but that he approached her and forced himself on her, specifically sticking his tongue down her throat,” said Smith. Smith continued and indicating that Paula told him she pushed the attorney away adding that she appeared very upset as she told the story. “Emotionally you could tell she was distraught, something was clearly bothering her, weighing heavy on her,” said Smith.

Both Smith and Todd Bovo say Paula talked about the alleged assault on other occasions and even told an investigative reporter. KCNC’s Brian Maass interviewed Paula Bovo as a legal expert on an unrelated story that ran January 31, 2019. Todd claimed Paula told him that after the official interview ended, she told Maass the attorney sexually assaulted her. Smith said she told him the same thing. “After the Brian Maass interview, she said she had discussed it with Brian Maass and he now knew the situation,” said Smith. “Just that she had told him the same story as far as what happened at the dock, that Brian Maass now knew the story.”

Paula denies ever making such a claim. She said, “(The attorney) never sexually assaulted me and I never said that to anyone.” She adds, “And if anyone says I did they are not telling the truth.”

When the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle contacted reporter Maass he said, “I’m not going to be able to help you out on that.”

But Todd Bovo and Smith stand by their stories, adamant that Paula made the sexual assault allegations on numerous occasions.

Todd Bovo says it’s not right that someone with Paula’s stature in the community can keep making what he calls false allegations with potentially devastating consequences to him and others.

Show Cause Hearing

Paula Bovo’s professional credibility has been questioned before. In a July 2019 Federal Court order by Judge William Martinez regarding a civil case Paula was involved in, the judge took the unusual step of threatening to sanction her. According to the court document, Judge Martinez identified at least four instances in which Bovo “willfully misrepresented the Complaint, either by making false assertions about the contents of specific paragraphs or by asserting, without citation, that certain things had already been alleged.” The Judge ordered Paula to “show cause why she should not be sanctioned” for misrepresenting what was in the Complaint.

In September 2019 the Judge decided not to sanction Paula, writing, “Ms. Bovo accepts responsibility for her actions and displays what the Court finds to be genuine and appropriate contrition.” Ms. Bovo withdrew from the case on February 17, 2020, along with Mr. Bovo.

The FBI

Todd Bovo asserts not only was Paula a confidential source for negative stories about Glendale by Brian Maass while she was the Mayor Pro Tem she also was a source for the FBI in connection with an apparent FBI investigation involving the City of Glendale in early 2016.

An undercover FBI agent using the fake name of “Charles Johnson” showed up in Glendale. He was posing as a private investigator and knocking on the doors of citizens who made public comments about a proposed development at Colorado Boulevard and Virginia. The residents, who felt threatened and harassed reported “Johnson” to Glendale Police. Johnson was carrying multiple motor vehicle licenses from different states. The police arrested Johnson for failure to have a required private investigator license but the charges were dropped when the FBI intervened demanding all charges be dismissed. Johnson was apparently a top undercover agent who was outed during the Bundy trial in Nevada where he claimed to be a documentary film producer obtaining incriminating statements from the Bundy family members. The case against Cliven Bundy was thrown out by Federal District Court Judge Gloria Navarro for “flagrant prosecutorial misconduct.”

It was never clear what the FBI was investigating in Glendale. However, Jonathan Grusing, a top special agent for the FBI, was photographed with the principals of the Authentic Persian and Oriental Rug Company who were demanding and suing the city to be able to build a massive apartment building on the land on Colorado Boulevard and Virginia Avenue. Todd Bovo says unbeknownst to other City Council members, Paula was regularly meeting with the FBI during this time. He says he does not know what she said but notes Paula was eventually forced to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent her on the matter. According to a Fee Agreement dated February of 2016 the attorney was hired to “provide legal representation of Paula Bovo… in the pending investigation by the state and federal authorities in the State of Colorado… pertaining to the investigation and any pending charges related to Glendale municipal government activities.”

Whatever the FBI was looking into, the investigation seems to have ended and the only person ever arrested was the undercover FBI agent Johnson.

Reaction

Jeff Allen, COO of the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce, who was on the City Council with Ms. Bovo, stated: “If the former Mayor Pro Tem Bovo was acting as a source for Brian Maass for his negative and unfair stories about Glendale and while secretly meeting with the FBI without informing the City Attorney or her fellow council members, she utterly betrayed our trust and I am, for one, ashamed of her.”

The Chronicle reached out to Ms. Bovo for her response to the allegations and any other information she wished to provide. In response she sent the following statement: “As a victim of domestic violence and a mother of young children, I find it reprehensible that my ex-husband and the Cherry Creek Chronicle have chosen to inflict more harm upon me and my children by sharing my private life and story for the benefit of revenge; due to ongoing lawsuits I cannot comment further.”

Todd Bovo noted: “It breaks my heart to see the mother of my children and soon to be ex-wife continue to make allegations that couldn’t be further from the truth. Paula’s claims are insulting and offensive to the true victims of domestic violence. “

The next court date on the dissolution of the marriage of the Bovos is a four-day hearing for permanent orders scheduled to start June 23, 2020.

After 86 Years, Three-Story Development Is About To Replace The Bonnie Brae Tavern

by Mark Smiley | Jan 24, 2020 | Main Articles

by Glen Richardson

One of the Cherry Creek Valley’s longest continually owned and operated family businesses is about to become history. The long-running Bonnie Brae Tavern that opened in 1934 with an old-school ambiance, dishing out red-sauce Italian and American dishes, is likely to be scraped-off by redevelopment.

Early-stage development plans submitted to the city indicate that the 0.76-acre site at 740 S. University Blvd. will be replaced by a 40-foot, three-story building with 43 apartments plus, in theory, 16,500-sq.-ft. of retail on the ground floor. The development would also have one level of below-ground parking. At this point there is no guarantee that the plot will in fact be sold or exactly what any development will look like. Some anticipate that the retail will be jettisoned as it has been in other so-called “mixed use” projects and the entire development will simply be one more apartment/condominium project. The property owners have obtained a non-historic designation for the building and demolition certificate which is valid until May 1, 2024.

Plans are listed under the name Joe Jundt who is developing the project with two local partners. Jundt reportedly envisions one of the floor-level retail units as a higher-end restaurant, noting the area is surrounded by pricey Belcaro and Wash Park homes. A Bonnie Brae Tavern rebirth is unlikely, however, as there have been no discussions of the Tavern reopening in the project.

Changing History

The east end of the Tavern building is leased to In & Out Cleaners. The Tavern property also includes the building at 750 S. University. Formerly a Bank of the West site, the building now is home to Wish Gifts. Both businesses would be demolished according to plans for the new project.

Carl and Sue Dire bought the block of land in 1933 when University Boulevard was a dirt road. The Dires opened a gas station on the corner and Bonnie Brae Tavern was opened at its current location in 1934, the same family still runs it. Looking east was sagebrush as far as the eye could see until Colorado Boulevard, interrupted by a dairy farm or two. To the west, instead of today’s pop-tops of prime real estate, there were modest bungalows of a young neighborhood named Washington Park.

The tavern’s lack of pretentiousness made it a favorite hangout for those in Glendale who viewed themselves at the time as far more agrarian than urban. Well into the 1950s Bonnie Brae Tavern was considered by many as part of greater Glendale rather than Denver.

Carl Dire – he died in 1982 – invested every dime he had in the weeds and dirt along the east side of the street. With prohibition out, Dire had decided to open a bar in what was one of the driest neighborhoods in Denver. Dire and his wife Sue – she passed away in 2002 – named the business after the housing development Bonnie Brae that surrounded it. Like the restaurant, the neighborhood took time to grow into its name, which is Gaelic means “pleasant hill.” In 1934, it was nothing more than a scandal-ridden development that had gone bankrupt a few years earlier.

High Property Taxes Drive Sale

The impetus for the proposed sale has been the steep rise in property taxes for commercial property in the City and County of Denver. The last tax bill increased the levy by $30,000 for a $73,000 total. The owners noted that some businesses in the area are paying as much as $10,000 a month, which he finds would be prohibitive for many small independent businesses. It brings into question for some, can the Bonnie Brae commercial area on University survive? The old “Campus Lounge,” long a popular hangout like Bonnie Brae Tavern, is on its third proprietor in just a few years. As many small businesses are fleeing Denver, some do hang on as highlighted in the article on Page 1, “Old School Holdouts.”

Amid Continuing Construction Chaos Cherry Creek Searches For Its Shopping Soul

by Mark Smiley | Jan 24, 2020 | Main Articles

District Ponders Beverly Hills Hip Vs. NY Village Vibes; Dumpsters On Street Plus Sardine Can Size Micro Apartments

by Glen Richardson

In 2018 Cherry Creek North projected completion of nine out of 10 of its building projects, but as the new decade begins the flurry of construction shows no sign of slowing. The neighborhood has slapped on so much development in the past half-dozen years many residents and small business owners are wishing for a moratorium to absorb the growth.

The pace of development-driven change has been head-spinning, adding millions of square feet of apartment and commercial space while upending shopping and crushing the streetscape, parking and vibe of the district.

In addition to lack of planning for and management of projects, construction workers and developers have total control of the streets with little or no concern for shoppers or retail owners. Equally disturbing, the district still hasn’t decided on a direction to take to make the district an attractive destination.

Beverly Hills Look

At the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District’s December board meeting, BID officials once again contemplated trying to become Beverly Hills. It was the third time the board has listened to Emzy Veazy III tell them how to copy Beverly Hills and retake lost marketing share and become a world class destination. He also attended and addressed BID in 2006 and 2017.

Beverly Hills, of course, is known as one of the most fashionable places to shop. In the heart of it all sits Rodeo Drive — one of the most famous streets on the globe. It has more than 100 world-renowned stores and hotels along its three blocks.

BID board member Terri Garbarini — owner of a Cherry Creek women’s shop for more than 20 years — has pushed for the Beverly Hills image. She once told the Denver Business Journal, “Cherry Creek has become Beverly Hills without pretentiousness — and business wants in.” She originally had a shoe store in Larimer Square, then relocated to Cherry Creek and reopened as a dress shop on 3rd Ave. In 2013 Garbarini paid $5 million for the building at 239 N. Detroit St. and moved into the larger space.

Or New York Style

Meanwhile Matt Joblon — CEO of BMC Investments and another BID Board Member — has been transforming the district into something much more like New York’s Greenwich Village. His projects have added New York style hotels and eateries to Cherry Creek. Joblon’s $30 million makeover of the Inn at Cherry Creek underway on Clayton St. is being designed as an 18-hour-a-day nightlife hub similar to those in the Village.

Referred to as the “Village” by New Yorkers, its history is artsy and edgy. It is eminently walkable, and may have more culture per square foot than any other area of New York. Today it also features sleek new construction, upscale restaurants and dozens of gyms.

Jokingly introduced by former Neighborhood Assn. President Robert Vogel as the man who wants to change the district’s name to “Joblonville,” BMC built the Steele Creek Apartments, Halcyon Hotel, the Financial House and St. Paul Collection. Projects scheduled to start this year include a five to seven-story structure with retail on Fillmore St. and a six-story Equinox Fitness building on St. Paul

Eateries, Retail Turmoil

Not all of the BID board, however, has benefited from the district’s massive construction projects. Marshall Miranda closed his distinctive Bombay Clay Oven on Steele St. in April of last year. A Cherry Creek fixture since 1997, he blamed the closure on “several years of heavy construction that made access to the eatery difficult and parking all but impossible.” Laurel Cherry Creek, a 12-story luxury condo opened several months later.

Hedge Row — the restaurant across from Miranda’s eatery at 100 Steele St. — shuttered before Miranda called it quits. Kitchen Restaurant Group co-founder Kimbal Musk blamed parking shortages and constant lane closures for the decision. Construction was also a factor for the Thirsty Lion closure. Harmon’s Eat & Drink didn’t renew its least on East 2nd Ave. blaming rent increases. Even Wolfgang Puck couldn’t make it in Harmon’s space.

Cherry Creek’s retail has also struggled due to the unmanaged building boom and rapidly rising rents. After five years in the upscale Fillmore Place development, the Hallmark store at 2940 E. 2nd Ave. closed in January. The store’s lease ended last July but remained open through the holidays paying rent monthly. The Jonathan Adler’s store at 158 Fillmore St. in Cherry Creek also closed last year. The high-end furnishings brand was the only Adler store in the region. Other closures included Eccentricity, a women’s clothing, accessories and gift store at 290 Fillmore St. and St. Croix on East 3rd Ave.

Positive Shopping News

Many residents and longtime state/regional customers are concerned about the future of what has long been a neighborhood hangout for shopping, dining and entertainment. The uncertainty that comes with new construction, vacant storefronts and potential new owners makes them apprehensive.

As development triggers the departure of eateries and retail shops — particularly independent boutiques — there’s also a bit of positive news to uplift shoppers. Rather than closing Adornments, owner Helen Wicker has sold the local store to longtime manager Consuelo Diaz. Wicker has moved to Santa Fe where she owns sister store Adorn.

Diaz has managed the Cherry Creek store for 23 years, assisting the boutique’s devoted customers. “Adornments will continue the unique, stylish and artistic vision that has made the fashion store a Valley favorite,” she tells the Chronicle. The store features a continuously changing collection of clothing, jewelry and accessories. Diaz and her friendly-knowledgeable staff enjoy helping women with their individual style and finding “clothing and accessories to Adore.” Adornments is located at 2826 East 3rd Ave. Information: 303-321-7992.

Dumpsters, Micro Flats

District shop owners, however, continue to face challenges due to the uncontrolled construction. Harriet’s, a clothing boutique at 300 Fillmore, recently found a construction dumpster taking up the metered spaces in front of the shop. Owner Harriet Gibson, an unabashedly direct business woman, eventually got the dumpsters moved albeit only few spaces down the street in front of the library.

Upscale Cherry Creek North shopping faces yet another challenge: Limited land in the district is attracting another kind of development — living like fancy sardines in micro apartments. A five-story, 37-unit micro-apartment building is expected to open this spring at 135 Adams St. in Cherry Creek. Amazingly neighborhood groups couldn’t halt the Barry Hirschfeld-led development that features no parking in the already dense neighborhood.

Whether Cherry Creek chooses to imitate Greenwich Village or Beverly Hills, the district is unlikely to become an awe-inspiring destination until it becomes walkable, has parking and can attract and keep shopping boutiques, vibrant venues and restaurants that create a unique destination.

Cycle Lane Lunacy? B-Cycle Is Shutting Down

by Mark Smiley | Dec 16, 2019 | Main Articles

Public Works Scrambles To Find A Substitute; The City Is Also Ending Its Electric Scooter Program

by Glen Richardson

Despite a 2020 Denver bike lane budget of $11 million, another $4 million for bike safety plus $3 million for “high-comfort” bike lanes on 18th and 19th Streets, Denver B-Cycle is shutting down on January 30, 2020, and won’t be replaced any time soon.

The company’s exit from Denver will take 737 publicly available bikes off the street at the end of this month.

Moreover, the city is also ending its electric scooter permit program and hoping to replace it with a system where scooter and shared bike providers will compete for a city contract.

Bid Peddling

Denver Public Works is now in the process of looking for a new company to operate bike and scooter services through a competitive bidding process that isn’t expected to be completed until the middle of this year. That means months are likely to pass between the end of B-cycle availability and the debut of a new system.

Amid competition from electric scooter and bike companies, dwindling ridership and shallow revenues — the city peddled 5,280 annual bike-share passes for free to incentivize biking instead of driving —many are questioning if the B-cycle era can make a comeback.

City government has helped fund the bike-share system but did not operate it, and it will not run one in the future, according to Mike Strott, a spokesman for the Mayor’s Office. In the first six months of Denver’s sanctioned dockless transport program, six e-bike and e-scooter companies combined to average about 5,100 trips a day.

Cost Cutting

By issuing a request for proposals from private bike-share and scooter-share companies to operate in Denver, Public Works hopes the system will be less costly. The contracts will replace the permitting system that has allowed companies like Lime and Jump to operate.

The competitive bidding process “will help Denver better manage and coordinate the delivery of these commercial operations and help ensure the city partners with the most qualified operator(s) to further its mobility goals,” according to a DPW statement. A decision on who will operate the program(s) won’t be made until at least this summer, Pubic Works admits.

But even if Public Works is able to get a new company or companies by this summer, getting a new bike share system up and running could take several more months. That, many observers including bikers, worry will make the delay even more lengthy. Upshot: Such a wide gap in service is likely to push B-cycle users into buying cars. Moreover, many families used B-cycle so they would only need one car.

Dated System

Denver’s B-cycle bikes and docking stations needed to be replaced. Many dated to when the system was launched in 2010, according to Mike Pletsch, executive director of Denver Bike Sharing, the nonprofit that runs B-cycle. But the organization doesn’t have the money to replace the equipment or renew its contract with Trek, the bicycle manufacturer that developed the system.

“The continued aging of the system and the cost to work with B-cycle is too high for us,” he said. “The funding is just not there to do it.”

The organization’s 2018 budget totaled $1 million, according to its annual report. The city provided it with $800,000 in 2019, and about half of that was dedicated to a program that handed out the 5,280 free passes.

Falling Ridership

B-cycle ridership has been falling steadily since its peak in 2014. The system’s riders took 377,000 trips that year compared with 305,000 in 2018, a 19 percent decline, according to the annual report. The decrease in riders corresponds roughly with the rise of ride-hail services like Uber and Lyft, and the arrival of dockless scooters and bikes last year.

But Denver’s bike share system has never had the high number of stations needed to reach high ridership levels, like those in Paris, New York, or Mexico City. According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, successful systems provide 28 stations per square mile. Denver B-Cycle had about a half-dozen per square mile.

“We’ve got 89 stations currently and there certainly needs to be more,” says Pletsch. Those docking stations are spread out over seven neighborhoods and host the system’s 716 bikes.

CDOT’S VISION FOR FUTURE: Lexus Lanes For The Affluent; Endless Traffic For Everyone Else

by Charles Bonniwell | Dec 16, 2019 | Main Articles

Part III Of A III Part Series

by Charles C. Bonniwell

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.”

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

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

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 Lanes Mead To Fort Collins

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

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.