First Entry

Here's a little essay I wrote on the Beltway entitled "Highway to Hell". It sums up my view on this Beltway in a nutshell. Enjoy. HIGHWAY TO HELL… (A solution to the proposed Jefferson County Beltway) By Scott Zulauf Since the late 1960s, there has been talk of constructing a highway to close the “loop” around Denver, and along the Northwestern corridor of Jefferson County and Southern Boulder County. For a long time the best reason offered by advocates was basically one of vanity, or for lack of a better term, “loop envy” - arguing that all other major cities have a “closed loop” circumventing their cities, and if Denver wanted to be considered a major U.S. city, we needed to close our loop as well. The subject of the proposed beltway first found its way into the hands of the voters in 1989, and was clearly rejected by an 80% margin. Between 1989 and 2001, several reports were commissioned under the guise of projected traffic congestion by the year 2020 (Green). Unfortunately for developers who have long wanted to get their hands on the undeveloped land of Jeffco’s northwest quadrant, the results of the studies all seemed to point to the fact that the proposed beltway is not a practical, cost effective, nor necessary way for dealing with the projected growth in traffic. So why is it that in 2008, Jefferson County Commissioners are now planning to move ahead with the seemingly unnecessary and unpopular beltway? The reasons offered today seem to go way beyond a simple case of “loop envy”. The best answer seems to be something resembling sheer hedonism. The estimated cost for building the beltway has already climbed to an estimated $800 million. There are no federal earmarks or funds en route to help aid in its construction (since every study has shown that a beltway is unnecessary), and recently CDOT has stepped back from funding its construction, as well. So as of right now, the money to fund this project would have to come solely from bonds and taxes from Jefferson County residents. Have the residents of Jefferson County nothing better to spend a billion dollars on than an ill-conceived super highway? But wait,… there’s more. Since generating revenue for the beltway is an obvious concern, the project in its current form is actually a proposed… toll way. Residents would not only be asked to pay for its construction with taxes and bonds, but they would also be asked to pay even more money to drive on it. Last year, CDOT even admitted that the toll road will not be sustainable, and would not be able to pay the bond debt without a publis subsidy. With gasoline prices hitting record highs, a recessive economy, and the value of the dollar falling like a rock, motorists would be even less motivated to pay extra to commute to work, thus doing next to nothing to reduce the congestion concerns along the existing roadways of Macintyre/ Indiana to the east, and State Highway 93 on the west. Does no one remember the lessons from the Northwest Parkway of Broomfield? The city of Broomfield attempted a similar toll road, and it was such a fiasco that just last year, they were forced to lease (or sell out) the land on which it sits to a foreign Portuguese/Brazilian investment team for the next 99 years at a price of $600 million - with the special incentive of another $60 million, if the beltway is completed to connect highway 93 in Golden (Leib). It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that the only reason to invest in something, is because there is a nice return expected on that investment - it’s safe to suspect that the Portuguese/ Brazilian investors weren’t bailing out the city of Broomfield out of the goodness of their hearts. But, hey… these days this “strategery” seems somewhat par for the course. During his seven long years in office, George W. Bush has completely sold America down the drain by borrowing more money from foreign governments than all other previous presidents combined - over one trillion dollars (Hunter). (It’s no wonder the value of the dollar has fallen so much. Perhaps this is Mr. Bush’s way of solving illegal immigration; with the Mexican Peso now trading at $0.80 on the dollar, soon workers in the U.S. may be flocking to Mexico in search of better pay.) The city of Broomfield simply took a page from George Bush’s playbook. Here is yet another example of foreign investors getting rich off the backs of American workers; in this case, directly from the residents of Jefferson County. Next, the environmental impact from such a proposed beltway must be taken into account. Mark Twain once wrote, “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” This is certainly obvious in Jefferson County, where the sprawl of cookie cutter houses and big box stores are destroying all that once made Jeffco such a unique place to live. We as humans are really just beginning to understand the fragile and symbiotic relationships that we have with all other species on the planet. The black-tailed prairie dog, for instance, is considered a "canary in the coal mine" species. They have been bulldozed, shot, and poisoned to less than 5% of their historic population size (www.prairiedogcoalition.org). Although often considered a “nuisance”, their presence and place in the food web has an immense impact on larger mammals and birds of prey; the sight of which people often find as a definitive reason for choosing to live along the foothills of Jeffco. The proposed beltway would put a four lane toll road directly next the newly declared Rocky Flats Wilderness Refuge. Rocky Flats was the military site that developed nearly all of the U.S.’s trigger mechanisms for it’s arsenal of nuclear weapons from the 1950s through 1989. After a decade’s long $7 billion cleanup (Sterling), it was named a wildlife refuge by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 12th 2007 "in order to conserve the rare and unique tallgrass prairie found along Colorado's Front Range." (Berendzen). Proponents of the beltway see this solution as a way of relieving traffic congestion (in the most undeveloped quadrant of Jefferson County) and providing necessary access to the newly proposed (and poorly thought out) Candelas area of western Arvada. The developers of Candelas claim the need for a quicker mode of transport for their yet to exist residents. The circular reasoning is enough to make a Frisbee dizzy. So why build it? Why expose this “last quadrant standing” as the Sierra Club refers to it, to all of this useless degradation? Here’s where the hedonism comes in: The real motivation for this beltway is to promote development. This proposed beltway is nothing more than a seedy land grab. It will give developers the excuse they’ve been looking for to overdevelop the last remaining stand of prairie between Denver and Boulder. After the toll road fails, which history shows it will, the Arvada city council and Jefferson County Board of Commissioners will need to find a way to recoup their extreme losses. Their only choice will be to propose the obvious development of the open space around the highway. In will sweep the private investors, bulldozed over will be the prairie’s current residents, and a handful of rich people will once again find a way to get richer off the backs of the taxpayers of Jeffco. This is not prophetic, this is simply history repeating. One has but to look no further than the far east - toward Denver International Airport and the infamous Pena Boulevard. At first it didn’t seem to make much sense to build Denver’s new airport some 45 minutes to the northeast of the city itself, but the recent sprawl of neon hotel signs, gas stations, cheap residential houses, and useless mini-malls, makes it all too clear. If traffic congestion is truly the concern, there is fortunately a better solution to the beltway dilemma. The Northwest Quadrant Feasability Study conducted by CDOT, Jeffco, and other municipalities concluded that beltway was not needed, and that a better cheaper alternative would be to improve existing roads. Many non-profit citizens groups have endorsed the idea of widening the existing roads of SH93 and Macintyre/Indiana, creating a 4 lane twin arterial system. This idea will in short require no tolls, preserve the open space of the northwest quadrant, and cost 50% less than the proposed Beltway (www.gothebetterway.org). This plan is currently endorsed by Colorado Environmental Coalition, Plan Jeffco, Friends of the Foothills, Canyon Area Residents for the Environment (CARE), Blue Mountain Land & Homeowners Association, Apple Meadows Homeowners Association, Village at Mountain Ridge Homeowners Association, Meadow Run Homeowners Association, and Harmony Village Community Association. (www.gothebetterway.org) However, if hedonism is truly the concern, the answer is far simpler; just STOP BEING GREEDY. Since 1990, average CEO pay has risen 442%, while average worker pay has increased 1.6% (Sklar). In 2003, the average CEO was making 185 times the average worker. Thanks in part to George Bush’s tax cuts, that number grew to 279 times by 2006 (Burton, Weller). The American people of the new millennium find themselves at a very unique time in history. They can sit back and be placated by big screen TVs, DVD players, video games, “reality” TV programming, and witness the continued disappearance of the middle class, or they can stand up and take their country back. With the economic balloon about to burst, America being in debt up to its eyeballs, and the impact of global climate change trumpeting overhead like the four horsemen themselves, the time to act is now. The incumbent County Commissioner from District 2, republican Kevin McCasky, is facing reelection this November. Never mind the accusations of corruption that have plagued this board of commissioners, this is a man who has been attributed with saying “maybe Jefferson County has enough open space already” (Sugg). His challenger, democrat Jason Bane, has yet to state his opinion on the beltway, in part because he hopes to obtain campaign funding from the same developers who would equally support McCasky if the beltway plans were to be put in place. Fortunately, voters in this election cycle have a third choice: Me. On May 3rd, 2008, I was unanimously nominated at the state Green Party Meeting and Nominating Convention to run for the position of Jefferson County Commissioner from District 2 (www.metrodenvergreens.org). I am the only candidate running who refuses to take corporate campaign contributions, and will therefore be beholden only to the voters themselves. Though I am one of among thousands of citizens who oppose the Beltway, I am the only candidate who fully and openly endorses the alternative. There is a better way. An old Cree Indian prophecy says, “When the last fish has been caught, only then will you see that money cannot be eaten”. Voters can choose the only candidate who truly echoes their values of preserving Jefferson County’s open space - the only candidate who speaks for the trees. References Berendzen, Steve. “U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Establishes Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge”. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2007. 4 May 2008. Burton, John Alexander and Weller,Christian E. “The Gap Between CEOs and America's Middle Class Widened in 2005.” Center For American Progress. 2006. 5 May 2008. < http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1549065.html> Go The Betterway. “Stop the Beltway, Go the Betterway.” Citizens Involved in the Northwest Quadrant. 2007. 5 May 2008. Green, Gwyn. “The Billion Dollar Boondoggle.” State Representative Gwyn Green. 5 May 2008. Hunter, Melanie. “Bush Borrowed More Than All Previous Presidents Combined, Group Says.” CNSNews. November 04, 2005. 4 May 2008 Leib, Jeffrey. “Joint Plan to Finish Beltway.” The Denver Post. 18 Mar. 2008. 5 May 2008. Metro Denver Greens. “Colorado Greens For 2008.” Metro Denver Greens. 6 May 2008. Prairie Dog Coalition. “Key Messages For Prairie Dogs” Prairie Dog Coalition. 5 May 2008 Sklar, Holly. “CEO Pay Still Outrageous.” Dissident Voice. 1 May 2003. 4 May 2008. Sterling, Bruce. “Nuclear Weapons Site Becomes Wildlife Refuge.” Wired: Blog Network. November 23, 2007. 5 May 2008. Sugg, Dick. “Beltway Not A Favorite For All.” Mile High News. April 17, 2008. 5 May 2008.