Contact Your Council Member: Deny New $7.5M Request for Jefferson Parkway
Did you know that the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority has asked Arvada, Broomfield, and Jefferson County for $7,500,000 MORE MONEY for 2019?
Did you know that the JPPHA has ALREADY spent $10,500,000 in taxpayer dollars from those municipalities since 2008, and now wants that much MORE?
Is that how you want your local taxes spent, on this reckless project? Don’t you think there are better things that could be done with $18,000,000 from the Arvada, Broomfield, and Jefferson County budgets?
If you are surprised and angered by this information, then ACT! Contact your city council member immediately. Tell them you oppose this waste, and tell them to be responsible to the citizens. Contact information and a sample email are given below.
In 1989 voters defeated the first attempt at this roadway, then called W-470, by a four-to-one margin. In 2000 the Northwest Quadrant Feasibility Study concluded such a roadway wouldn’t relieve congestion, so arterial streets were improved instead. Usage of the Northwest Parkway fell so short of projections that its bonds were rated junk, it was leased to a Portuguese company for a century, and its tolls were repeatedly increased. And concern over plutonium re-suspension from disturbing Rocky Flats soil has been raised for 32 years by downwind HOAs and concerned citizens.
But the beltway backers just won’t quit. They ignore the will of the citizens, the findings of the studies, the results from other regional tollways, and the public health risks. All for what? To please development interests? To feed their egos? To avoid admitting failure?
It’s time to tell them enough is enough. Stop pretending. Quit throwing good money after bad. Be responsible public servants, and show some integrity.
Resolutions to approve JPPHA’s additional 2019 funding request will come before the Arvada and Broomfield City Councils in January or February. Please contact your council member immediately, tell them you are opposed, and demand they deny the request. Contact information follows, as does a sample email message.
Please share this post on social media, in your Nextdoor neighborhoods, and on email lists scoped to Arvada and Broomfield.
Arvada: (council@arvada.org)
Mayor Marc Williams: mwilliams@arvada.org, 303-424-4486
District 1 Councilmember Nancy Ford: nford@arvada.org
District 2 Councilmember Mark McGoff: mmcgoff@arvada.org, 303-423-5258
District 3 Councilmember and Mayor Pro-Tem John Marriott: jmarriott@arvada.org, 720-273-3912
District 4 Councilmember David Jones: djones@arvada.org
At-Large Councilmember Dot Miller: dmiller@arvada.org
At-Large Councilmember Bob Fifer: bfifer@arvada.org, 303-929-4278
Broomfield: (council@broomfieldcitycouncil.org)
Mayor Randy Ahrens: rahrens@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303.469.1498
Ward 1 Council Member Elizabeth Law-Evans: Elaw-evans@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303.460.1295
Ward 1 Council Member Stan Jezierski: sjezierski@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 720.272.2158
Ward 2 Council Member Mike Shelton: mshelton@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303.269.1946
Ward 2 Council Member Sharon Tessier: stessier@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303-641-5433
Ward 3 Council Member and Mayor Pro-Tem Bette Erickson: berickson@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303.466.3255
Ward 3 Council Member Deven Shaff: dshaff@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 970.344.8032
Ward 4 Council Member Kevin Kreeger: kkreeger@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 720.982.3751
Ward 4 Council Member Kimberly Groom: kgroom@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303.374.4074
Ward 5 Council Member David Beacom: dbeacom@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 303.453.9420
Ward 5 Council Member Guyleen Castriotta: gcastriotta@broomfieldcitycouncil.org, 720.607.1527
Sample email: (send to council@arvada.org, council@broomfieldcitycouncil.org)
Honorable Council Member,
I am opposed to the allocation of another $2,500,000 from the City’s budget to fund the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority in 2019.
I urge you to vote against this allocation when it comes before Council in a resolution very soon this year.
The Jefferson Parkway project makes no sense. Voters disapproved its predecessor W-470 by a four-to-one margin in 1989. The Northwest Quadrant Feasibility Study found in 2000 that such a roadway won’t relieve congestion in our city. The Northwest Parkway has been a financial disaster for Broomfield. And the public health risk of disturbing plutonium-contaminated soil east of Rocky Flats is paramount. There is no defensible reason to build this parkway and waste taxpayer money doing so.
Please spend our tax dollars more wisely, and please be responsive to the will of the citizens.
Sincerely,
An Engaged Constituent