Beltway Groundhog Day -- NOT

"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?" Phil Connors (Bill Murray)

A recent email post seemed to compare Golden's efforts to protect the neighborhoods along the 6/93 corridor, enhance connectivity, and reduce noise to the movie "Groundhog Day." The truth is far from "here we go again." Golden has been obtaining regional recognition that a road through Golden must respect our unique characteristics even though the special design would multiply normal construction costs. In other words -- Golden is worth the extra investment that its residents want.

Golden's and CDOT's technical staffs have worked together on a practical, on-the ground solutions in a way that elected officials cannot. With the Muller Plan as a starting point and protecting Golden as a goal, they came up with an engineering concept that meets Golden's needs and also accommodates regional traffic. For Sixth Avenue, it contemplates a four-lane parkway with an inviting double-wide car/bike/ped bridge at 19th street and grade separation at Heritage road. For 93 it includes a parklike lid near Mitchell School and grade-separated interchanges along a four-lane parkway. By realigning the highway closer to the hogback, it moves traffic and noise away from most North Golden neighborhoods and accommodates sound mitigation for Mountain Ridge.

Of course, there are always trade-offs in life. The "Groundhog" email mentioned only the conceivable down sides, especially those that are unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future. 

Significant compromises include:

(1) keeping present posted speed limits of 45 miles per hour on most of the route but 55 miles per hour between 19th and Heritage. Golden wanted speeds of 45 miles per hour through town; CDOT wanted 55 miles per hour  .

(2) building the roadway at four lanes, but intersection improvements with the capacity to accommodate six in the future. CDOT wanted six lanes. Golden, of course, wants four. The compromise would allow widening if traffic reached 75,000 vehicles per day -- a figure that our projections show will probably never be reached and, if reached, would result in so much congestion that another solution would have to be found.

(3) conceding the potential for "managing" or tolling new lanes. The not "sugar-coated" fact is that the City of Golden's position on managed lanes will have little effect on this controversy --  which is hotly debated in the transportation community throughout our region, state, and nation. In the Denver area, there are either commitments or discussions about tolling lanes on US 36, C-470, the replacement for elevated I-70, and the tunnel at Idaho Springs. Here is a link to CDOT's managed lanes policy directive: http://www.coloradodot.info/about/governmentrelations/news-publications/policy-briefs/cdot-s-managed-lanes-policy-directive/view.

And the "Groundhog" email did not address the very real risk that, without Golden's cooperation, CDOT will return to its much cheaper superslab design for a highway through Golden. And further "just say no" actions can  squander the hard-earned goodwill of our legislators and neighboring jurisdictions. As a result, we could not count on them to help us fend off legislation stripping away our local control. 

There is no pending deadline for either Golden or CDOT to formally accept the plan's vision. There is, however, an upcoming chance to take advantage of CDOT "RAMP" funding. This accelerated funding could help finance improvements that enhance residents' quality of life through connectivity, safety, aesthetics, and noise reduction. A council meeting on the plan is scheduled for May 9 -- and we'll provide you with much more information as the time nears. 

To close with a paraphrase from "Groundhog Day," tomorrow is happening.