Hwy 24 confab at West Aug. 24

       The ninth in a series of public meetings on a proposed Westside Highway 24 expansion will be hosted by the Colorado Department of Transpor-tation (CDOT) Thursday, Aug. 24 at the West Intergenerational Center, 25 N. 20th St.
       The meeting will include displays from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and a presentation/ question-answer session from 6 to 8 p.m. in the West auditorium.
       According to CDOT officials, attendees will get a chance to view various options within the scope of CDOT's expressway design alternative. Some of these were presented at the last meeting in May, while others have been edited since then and a few more are new.
       CDOT has identified the following project issues on which public input is especially welcome:
  • Adding access between 8th and 21st streets (a locally proposed “shortcut” between 14th and Broadway streets is part of this issue).
  • Selecting an interchange design for 21st Street (all state designs call for several business removals around the intersection).
  • Adding a pedestrian overpass between 25th and 31st Streets (the Midland neighborhood petitioned CDOT for a 25th Street overpass in 2004, and the state is considering one near Red Rock Canyon Open Space).
  • Deciding whether to have an overpass, interchange or stoplight at Ridge Road.
  • Considering improvements to the Manitou Avenue interchange.
  • Planning a Midland Trail route through the Westside (proposed highway expansions would force relocation of the current trail in at least two places).
  • Improving access to existing businesses.
           In addition, CDOT consultants have said they may be ready to critique the Westsiders' Plan - a lower-impact local proposal that the Westside Pioneer initiated last March and which has since been modified by the Organization of Westside Neighbors (OWN) with an overpass concept.
           CDOT plans tentatively call for widening the highway from the current four lanes between I-25 and Manitou, with major interchanges at 8th and 21st Street, at-grade intersections at 26th and 31st, and to-be- determined at Ridge Road.

    Westside Pioneer article