Globeville and Elyria-Swansea in north Denver for decades have been boxed in and divided by highways, railroad tracks and the South Platte River.
Now the neighborhoods have been selected for a $35.5 million infusion of federal grant money to boost city projects aimed at better stitching them back together.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston last week called the neighborhoods, which are often collectively referred to as GES, “underfunded and underserved” portions of the city. They’re in need of direct investment to remain vibrant, he said in a news release.
The grant, announced Friday, is being provided through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program.
This is not the first time GES has seen substantial government investment over the last decade. Big spending has taken the form of a $1.2 billion widening of a segment of Interstate 70 and the city’s ongoing $1 billion project to overhaul and remake the National Western Center campus north of the highway.
Residents have scrutinized and, at times, fought those projects. Efforts included activists’ failed legal challenge to the Central 70 project based on arguments that it would only deepen environmental health risks in an area already recognized as one of the country’s most polluted residential zip codes.
The projects earmarked for support through this latest grant are being cast as a way to help “remedy past injustices,” according to a U.S. DOT fact sheet.
The upcoming work will not only provide long-awaited infrastructure improvements but also go beyond that by contributing to environmental remediation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Johnston’s administration.
Federal officials highlighted four project elements earmarked for grant funding, some of which were envisioned in the National Western Center redevelopment plan:
- A multimodal bridge over the South Platte River that will carry a new road — Bettie Cram Drive — from the National Western Center campus, on the east side of the river, to connections with North Washington Street on the west side.
- A pedestrian bridge over the consolidated railroad tracks in the middle of the National Western campus that will provide broader access to a Regional Transportation District N-Line rail station on Brighton Boulevard, both for residents and Stock Show attendees.
- Funding to “reclaim land” for neighborhood uses. City officials identified land near the Johnson Recreation Center, 4809 Race St., that requires environmental remediation before it can be put to use for community benefit.
- At-grade railroad crossing safety improvements along National Western Drive.
All told, that work is projected to cost $67.9 million. A city project official said the rest will come from a mix of funding sources. The National Western Center plan is funded in large part by voter-approved taxes on lodging and car rentals.
The federal grant is coming through a program funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the city’s news release. Johnston and several members of Colorado’s congressional delegation praised the funding award.
“These three neighborhoods have historically lacked the support and access to resources they need to thrive, and I’m grateful that this funding will help them grow while preserving local culture,” Sen. Michael Bennet said in the release.
Johnston will tour the neighborhoods with Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and other White House officials on Thursday, according to mayor’s office spokeswoman Jordan Fuja.
Poor infrastructure has long been a focus for neighborhood advocates. It’s an issue that has persisted even as the city has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the campus redevelopment. The project was made possible in part by the demolition of area homes and businesses.
Even some of the benefits that new construction has brought to the area, such as free programming offered through Colorado State University’s Spur satellite campus, are difficult to access for residents because of a lack of safe sidewalks and pedestrian crossings, according to residents.
“The neighborhoods around the National Western all are falling apart,” Nola Miguel, a longtime leader with the GES Coalition Organizing for Health and Housing Justice, told The Denver Post in an interview last fall.
The timelines for the key elements of the grant-funded work remain fuzzy.
Michael Bouchard, the director of the Mayor’s Office of the National Western Center, said in an email Wednesday that with federal funding in the mix, the city will have to ensure all work meets federal environmental compliance requirements.
That said, the city is still projecting the pedestrian bridge, complete with elevators on either side, will be completed sometime in 2026. The Bettie Cram bridge may be built more quickly than previously hoped with federal money in the funding picture.
“We are excited at the potential to advance projects sooner than anticipated,” Bouchard said.
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