Mayor Johnston’s vision for the Mile High Line hinges in part on the Denver Broncos’ plans for Burnham Yard, the site of the new stadium. To make room for the development, Denver Water must relocate its Operations Complex to a different site. The problem? Their preferred site is a non-starter for DSP and our coalition partners.
If Denver Water moves to Lot M at Empower Field at Mile High, it would directly interfere with long-standing plans made collaboratively between the City and the West Colfax community for this area to transform from surface parking and underutilized land into walkable, transit-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment, and for the Colfax & Federal cloverleaf to be redesigned into a safer, more connected urban interchange.
You know it’s true: the Colfax/Federal cloverleaf interchange is a pedestrian nightmare, a blighted waste of space, and it isolates communities by physically dividing neighborhoods and cutting residents off from schools, jobs, and public spaces. Sun Valley is one of Denver’s most historically underserved neighborhoods, having already absorbed significant disruption from construction of the original Colfax & Federal cloverleaf, which displaced more than 240 families and businesses in the 1960s. It is unconscionable that City is once again asking this same neighborhood to absorb a disproportionate burden, this time to accommodate the Broncos’ stadium relocation. Especially after all the hard work the City and the community put in to envision something better.
We remain steadfastly resolved that Lot M is the wrong site for this use. Denver Water’s operational needs are legitimate and can be met elsewhere; Lot M should be taken off the table entirely and an alternative central-Denver location should be identified without further delay.
Specifically, our coalition is calling on the Mayor and City Council to make the following commitments:
Join us in demanding that the Mile High Line projects prioritize alternative Denver Water relocation sites that better align with operational needs, adopted plans, and existing equity commitments.