DENVER — Realtor April Denmon remembers when Green Valley Ranch was more “valley.” She grew up in the area when it was defined by open land, not a burgeoning Denver neighborhood.
“I went to Marrama Elementary, and I was one of the first students to go there,” said Denmon, who still lives in the area. “The school was brand new, and so I've actually seen this area grow like crazy.”
She’s also seen the traffic grow on Peña Boulevard. For Denmon’s friends and neighbors, it’s more than just a road to Denver International Airport.
“It's congested,” Denmon told Denver7. “There are days when you don't know if you're going to be sitting there for 30 minutes or if it's going to be a 10-minute drive-through.”
After a postponed vote weeks ago, Denver City Council on Tuesday voted 9-2 to approve a five-year, $15 million contract for a study to consider options to reduce traffic on Peña.
Previous coverage:
Potential solutions to Peña Boulevard's traffic jams hit roadblock Future of a congested Peña Boulevard up for discussion FAA “will not fund any portion” of widening to reduce jams on DIA’s Peña BlvdThe federal environmental study fulfills a requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the contract includes funding to do preliminary design for proposed changes to the busy corridor.
“For me and my neighbors, it's our lifeline,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who oversees Green Valley Ranch and Denver's far northeast in the city's 11th District.
The airport has proposed options, including adding a bus-only lane, a carpool or toll lane, or a collector or frontage road that would separate airport and local traffic.
“I would estimate we're about 15 years too late on the equity that this corridor should have had earlier on,” Gilmore said in support of the contract.
Councilmembers Sarah Parady and Shontel Lewis voted against the motion because the study won’t look into ways to ramp up ridership on RTD’s A-Line, which connects Union Station to the airport.
“If we completely exclude transit alternatives, other than a dedicated bus lane, at this juncture, we’re really risking jeopardizing our climate goals and the health of communities near the airport by essentially doubling down on car dependency along one of the highest-trafficked roadways in the state,” said Parady.
She suggested “changes to the fare structure, the feeder routes,” and “improvements to park and ride lots” as possible solutions that the study could have explored.
“These kinds of investments, or some combination of them, could help us escape this endless cycle of just lane additions that will fill up with more traffic,” Parady said.
Because the airport is proposing and funding the project, the study does not cover RTD solutions.
“A NEPA study such as this can be done only on a project that a sponsor, DIA in this case, is able to fund and build,” District 2 Councilmember Kevin Flynn explained. “What it cannot be is a contract for a general study or analysis of how we can improve regional transit access to the airport. While that also should be done, it necessarily would have to be a separate conversation from NEPA, since there is no project at hand and would need to take place at the regional level, led by RTD and not by DIA.”
Airport CEO Phil Washington said he will keep talking with RTD about possible transit solutions for getting to the airport.
“I don't think there's anybody more pro-transit than me, who used to lead RTD, and we will continue to do that,” he said during Tuesday’s meeting.
For now, Denton is happy to see some progress, even if it’s been slow-going.
“If it doesn't happen now, it's going to be worse,” she said.
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