Today: Speak Up to Save North Denver From the I-70 Widening

If you don’t want a wider I-70 cutting through north Denver neighborhoods, you’ll want to head over to City Hall tonight. Advocates fighting the I-70 expansion want to pack City Council chambers for a public hearing about a drainage project tied to the highway widening. The project forces residents to pay for flood mitigation that wouldn’t be such a risk if not for Colorado DOT’s plan to dig a 40-foot ditch to widen the highway.

More on that and other events this week below.

Monday: The City Council will hear what the public has to say about its plan to hike property owners’ fees by 30 percent to help pay for Platte to Park Hill stormwater system project. Taxpayers were first put on the hook for this project last year. That’s when the City Council and Colorado DOT agreed to scratch each other’s backs: CDOT committed to paying for part of the drainage project in exchange for $83 million in city support for the I-70 widening. The hearing is at City Hall, 1437 Bannock St., at 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday:  How can local businesses provide more commuting choices for their employees? Register for the Transit Alliance Open Access event, an afternoon discussion about providing southeast Denver’s workforce with transportation options other than driving solo down I-25. 10075 Commons St., Lone Tree. 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday: Westwood is one of Denver’s least walkable neighborhoods. That’s why Community Planning and Development has been working with residents to overhaul the decades-old neighborhood plan that created traffic-dominated streets and nerve-wracking sidewalks too narrow for two people to walk side by side. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the blueprint, which aims to make Westwood a place that works people, not just cars. Does the plan do enough for walking and biking? City Hall, 1437 Bannock St. at 3 p.m. in the Parr-Widener Room.

Friday – Sunday: In the Denver context, NIMBY (not in my backyard) opponents might fight a new apartment building, for instance, because they see it as a threat to their ability to park right in the street right in front of their house. There’s a movement to combat the NIMBYs and support “abundant housing and sustainable infill in growing cities,” which you can plug into at the first-ever YIMBY (yes in my backyard) conference. Hyatt Place, 2280 Junction Pl. in Boulder. (Full schedule)

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