Ballot Issue 2A: Transportation and Mobility

A reluctant YES.

Let’s start with the $139 million elephant in the room: The 6th and 8th Avenue viaducts. Are we annoyed that bridge repairs surrounding the new Broncos stadium site, owned by one of the wealthiest families in the world, are more expensive than anything else in the entire Vibrant Denver package? Do we think the richest NFL owner should chip in to help maintain infrastructure that serves a $4 billion, privately-owned stadium? Did even the last-minute process through which it was added to this bond package feel a little shady knowing how much these private entities stand to benefit? Yes, yes, and yes.

But as much as we dislike this component of 2A, the remaining $302 million will support critically important multimodal, traffic calming, and pedestrian safety improvements that are so needed, we can’t in good conscience reject this bond. 

Pedestrian deaths increased by a whopping 50% in Denver this year. At Strong Denver, we know that street engineering is the primary factor in crash prevention and safety, and the majority of 2A funds projects that directly address these dangers. Here’s where your dollars go if you vote YES on 2A: 

• $138,495,000 will fund pedestrian safety and multimodal infrastructure improvements. At least 95% of that funding ($130,745,000) will go directly to projects in Denver’s High Injury Network, a collection of streets that account for 56% of all traffic crashes and a disproportionately high number of pedestrian deaths.
• $29,375,000 will replace the aging 6th Ave. Bridge and Lincoln Street Bridge over Cherry Creek, which will soon be too old to bear the weight of emergency vehicles to nearby Denver Health facilities. The project will also further support multimodal connectivity and pedestrian safety improvements. 
• $75,000,000 will establish a safe, multimodal connection between Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea by extending Bettie Cram Drive under the rail corridor to Brighton Boulevard. This new underpass will finally knit together neighborhoods that have been separated for generations by I-70 and multiple freight lines. It creates ADA-accessible walking and biking routes, replaces failing utilities, and opens the door to affordable, transit-oriented development on the National Western Center Triangle. This investment repairs a physical and economic barrier, giving North Denver residents safer, direct access to jobs, schools, and transit instead of forcing them to navigate dangerous arterials or long detours.

2A isn’t perfect, but it is intended to save lives and connect our communities. From new crossings on the High-Injury Network to safer multimodal corridors and long-overdue investments in historically neglected neighborhoods, 2A focuses on the kind of infrastructure that makes Denver stronger, more equitable, and more resilient. If 6th and 8th Avenue viaducts are the price of admission, that’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make for the human safety and economic vitality we can gain from 2A as a whole.