The funding needed to complete the Two Basin Drainage Project in Denver would come as a package deal with a $1.2 billion plan to overhaul I-70. Residents are concerned that they might be getting more than they bargained for.
The Two Basin Drainage Project would spend $173 million in building stormwater infrastructure for "repeatedly waterlogged" areas like Park Hill, Elyria-Swansea, and River North in northeast Denver. The city's plan would address the area's lack of sufficient storm sewers in two drainage basins that channel runoff to the South Platte River.
According to an article by Jon Murray, however, the funding for the Two Basin Drainage Project comes with a significant hitch: "Part of its funding is tied to the controversial Interstate 70 project," which would spend $1.2 billion to replace a 50-year-old viaduct between Colorado and Brighten boulevards with a widened, below grade stretch of freeway. Though the drainage project is supported by the community, the 1-70 project is far from a sure thing.
Murray covers more of the politics at play in the decision to link the two projects as well as more of the planning and design details behind the drainage project.
Read the full story: Drainage project in I-70 deal aims to cut flooding in northeast Denver
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