C-470 or Colorado State Highway 470 is the southwestern portion of the Denver Metro area's beltway. Orginally planned as Interstate 470 in the 1960's, attacks on the environmental impact and funding of the freeway ceased the plans for the freeway and the resulting portion is now C-470.

Route description

C-470 begins in Golden, Colorado starting at the end of US 6 or 6th Avenue and intersects Interstate 70 and continues in a south then west direction to end at Interstate 25 providing a direct connection to E-470. Downtown Golden, Colorado Golden, Colorado lies at the mouth of Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range. ... U.S. Highway 6 is a largely east-west United States Highway that connects Bishop, California with Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. ... Interstate 70 (abbreviated I-70) is a long interstate highway in the United States. ... Interstate 25 is an interstate highway in the western United States. ...

Length

History

Proposed I-470

In the 1960's the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) saw the need for a freeway in the growing southwest portion of the Denver Metro area and sent a proposal to the Federal Highway Administration. The plan was for the federal government to provide 90% of funds for the project and the state providing the difference. I-470 was added to the Federal Highway Act of 1968 and was to be part of the Interstate Highway and Defense System. The Denver City Council approved the location and began engineering and environmental impact studies. After a few months the studies went under analysis with negative feedback. The Colorado Department of Health shows they are not in favor of the freeway and would violate the Federal Clean Air Act. Other studies compared the proposed I-470 to the I-25 and I-225 freeways suggesting alternate uses for the land other than freeway use to be more environmentally friendly. Interstate Highways in the lower 48 states. ... Interstate 225 is a spur route of Interstate 25 in Aurora, Colorado. ...

I-470 to C-470

The feedback from the Colorado Department of Health caused all operations of the freeway to cease by order of the governor. A separate commission was established by Governor Lamm to evaluate the right course of action. The commission came up with 11 alternatives. The final decision was to use the federal funds to build a grand parkway known as "Centennial Parkway" and expand existing roads.

C-470 to Present

As the area began to rapidly grow Centennial Parkway began to conform to freeway standards and today is built to most interstate standards. The need for a full beltway became more necessary and plans for an extension were created. CDOT had no desire in participating in the building of the freeway and left the counties and cities of the surrounding to provide funding for the project. The only viable option was to build the beltway as a tollway. C-470 was built to the eastern end of I-70 and later to the northern section to I-25. This newly added freeway was known as Extension/Eastern 470 or E-470. When the desire came for the rest of the beltway to be completed, the city of Golden voted to stop all efforts to finish the beltway due to traffic concerns. The city of Broomfield, Colorado continued the beltway from I-25 to US 36 or the Denver-Boulder Turnpike (this section is known as the Northwest Parkway). As of August 2003, CDOT made a compromise with the cities of Westminster and Arvada with Golden to do an environmental impact study and attempt to complete the beltway by 2010 although it is more likely to be completed by 2020. The City and County of Broomfield lies in the northern tier of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area in Colorado. ... United States Highway 36 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 1,414 miles (2,276 km) from east-central Ohio to Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. ...

External links

• http://www.mesalek.com/colo/denvers470.html

Denver's 470 Saga. December 6, 2003

• http://www.mesalek.com/colo/r400-789.html

Colorado Highways: Routes 400 to 789. August 1,2005