Jefferson Parkway Takes Next Step

At the January 20 meeting of the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), the Board of Directors voted to place the Jefferson Parkway—the last significant piece of the metropolitan beltway—on the fiscally constrained Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan. 

The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority (JPPHA), comprised of Jefferson County, the City and County of Broomfield, and the City of Arvada, was formed in 2008 with the goal of constructing the last significant remaining piece of the metropolitan beltway, closing the gap between State Highway 128 in Broomfield and State Highway 93 at approximately W. 58th Avenue north of Golden.   With the January 20 DRCOG vote, the JPPHA now has the ability to seek a private sector partner to determine the financial feasibility of constructing the Jefferson Parkway as a toll road. 

The construction of the Jefferson Parkway is a matter that affects 2.5 million residents in the Denver metropolitan area.  As the late Rocky Mountain News stated in a March 25, 2008 editorial:  “Beltways enhance much-needed suburb to suburb connections.  They take traffic off local streets.  They provide motorists with more direct routes to their destinations, thus saving them time and the money spent on increasingly expensive gasoline.”  The Denver Post concurred in a March 23, 2008 editorial:  “We hope a plan goes forward that can close the beltway around Denver—40 years after the idea was first proposed.”  The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority is prepared to do just that.