I-70

If FHWA finds that the I-70 widening would have a disparate impact, the agency could take steps to rectify the situation, including revoking federal funds for the project.

Local residents said the highway widening project "is intent on making us invisible."

Governor John Hickenlooper’s transportation department wants to triple the width of a highway that has divided the neighborhoods of Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea since the 1960s. If you follow Streetsblog Denver, you know the $1.7 billion widening is shortsighted, physically unhealthy, and fiscally irresponsible. It might also be illegal. The people who live near the … Continued

Between the daily headlines shouting out Millennial takeovers and Denver’s housing shortage, you’ve probably heard about the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) plan to widen I-70 by four lanes between I-25 and Tower Road. At $1.7 billion and about 12 miles long, the project is hard to miss. It’s massive in cost and scope. It … Continued

About 25 miles east of Denver’s urban core, across acres and acres of sprawl and rural fields, Mayor Michael Hancock delivered his annual “State of the City” address at Denver International Airport today. Hancock acknowledged that many residents aren’t reaping the benefits of Denver’s economic growth. Nodding to the city’s homelessness epidemic and housing shortage, he announced … Continued

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 … Continued

Here’s a video by Vox that offers a breezy history of highways and how the government rammed them through cities — usually at the expense of disadvantaged neighborhoods that lacked political power. Denver knows how that worked out. Residents of Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea have dealt with the pollution, noise, and blight of I-70 since the 1960s. Now Governor John Hickenlooper’s … Continued

Even as Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx calls on state officials to mend the scars left by urban highways in the 1950s and 60s, Governor John Hickenlooper is recycling 60-year-old talking points to justify making the I-70 scar even wider in north Denver. Streetsblog NYC’s David Meyer got a few minutes with the governor while he was in New York … Continued

Colorado DOT has produced a half-hour documentary about Colorado DOT saving Elyria, Swansea, and Globeville from an old highway. How does Colorado DOT come to the rescue? By building an enormous new highway, of course! This 30-minute piece of propaganda, called “Changing Lanes,” cost taxpayers $88,000 to make. The film was produced to fulfill federal historic preservation requirements, … Continued