I-25 Plan For Sprawl
Have you ever driven down I25 and marveled at the beautiful high plains prairie and farmlands as they meander up to meet the stunning foothills with their majestic white snow capped mountainess backdrop? Unfortunately, in the future this area may look and feel more like Colorado Springs with Denver Tech Center Traffic. According to a recent Worldwatch Institute study, "concerns like clogged roads, dirty air, and deteriorating neighborhoods are already fueling a backlash against car-based urban development - or 'sprawl'", and local and state surveys also show Coloradoans expect their city and state officials to honestly address sprawl. Yet, recently we learned developers were given special access - behind closed doors during the I25 planning process to create their vision of the I25 corridor. Public input apparently was somehow lost or left out, and the current I-25 plan seems to lack content regarding the major concerns of the citizens. By making all open space voluntary at the discretion of developers, the I25 plan does not address citizen requests for northern Front Range cities separated by agricultural land and open space. Instead of providing funding for cost effective commuter rail focusing on high-density activity center transit stops/interchanges, funding is only specified for building more than 30 new miles parallel shopping roads on each side of I-25 with a price tag over $300 million dollars. Most astonishing is that these new roads are already projected to be almost completely congested (Level of Service F) immediately after they are built and the plan vaguely mentions how light rail or other public transportation might later be incorporated without any mention of funding.
The recent Town Meeting (broadcast on the city channel) requested by City Council members Marty Tharp and Eric Hammrick was attended by only a few I25 Plan proponents/supporters, which were severely outnumbered (approx. 175 to 13) by a large public opposition to the plan. To all those citizens who voiced their discontent with the I25 plan and who requested that we create a better plan: Mayor Ray Martinez is quoted in the Coloradoan as saying "he hasn’t learned anything new from the town meeting". In my opinion, it does not make sense for city planners to leave citizen voices out of the planning process when it is possible to fairly compromise between developer wants and citizen needs. Citizens are requesting a more balanced plan satisfying both developer and public needs with an emphasis on smarter taxpayer friendly growth. Fort Collins residents like living here for the less crowded streets and higher quality of life, but citizens are being asked to accept a large-scale plan for sprawl and windfall developer subsidies. City Council members Karen Weitkunat, Kurt Kastein, and Ray Martinez feel that growth is going to occur in these areas anyway, and although I agree with them that growth will continue I disagree with their lack of foresight regarding open space and cost effective alternative transportation. We need to approve a plan that is focused on developing high-density activity centers around interchanges and transit stops while preserving our last open space, "view sheds", and existing thriving "downtown economies". Although many of our southern Front Range neighbor cities have already committed to becoming part of Denver, we still have the choice to remain independent from their rat race. Let’s maintain our status as the nice independent community that the Wall Street Journal recently touted as having such a high quality of life that subsidies to businesses/growth are unnecessary. Regardless of your philosophical opinion on the current I25 plan - it has never been more important to contact your City Councilman/women to make your voice heard. But if great views, clean air, and light rail are important to you and your family: telling them to vote NO on the current version of the I-25 plan would seem to make sense.
Chad Doverspike