DENVER – The committee in charge of deciding which public projects to include in a forthcoming general obligation bond measure has submitted its final recommendations to Mayor Michael Hancock.
The list of projects totals more than $749 million, about half of which is earmarked for transportation projects. The other half will fund projects at city-owned buildings, public safety facilities, parks and arts/culture facilities like the Denver Art Museum.
The list of recommendations is the result of 90 hours of meetings and thousands of ideas from the public, Mayor Hancock’s office said.
The biggest single expense on the list is $101 million for deferred road maintenance, such as repaving, curb and gutter construction and repair and major bridge work. The list also includes $75 million for a new ambulatory care center at Denver Health and $55 million for a bus rapid transit system along East Colfax.
Over the next several weeks, Hancock and the Denver City Council will tweak the list and add, remove or edit projects to fit within their goal of an $800 to $900 million bond package for November’s ballot.
Below are some of the major projects included in the list. Note that projects and dollar amounts may change before the city finalizes the ballot measure in August.
City-owned public facilities
$75,000,000 – Denver Health and Hospital Authority Ambulatory Care Center
$31,000,000 – Central Library renovation
Safety facilities
$24,800,000 – Police District 5 replacement
$15,900,000 – Fire station at 72nd and Tower Road
Parks and recreation
$37,500,000 – Westwood Recreation Center
$15,000,000 – Improvements to neighborhood parks
Transportation and mobility
$101,000,000 – Deferred maintenance (road repaving, curb/gutter repair, bridge rehabilitation)
$55,000,000 – Bus Rapid Transit corridor along Colfax between Auraria and Yosemite
$29,700,000 – Sidewalk construction around the city
$27,000,000 – Road work on 56th Avenue between Peoria and Pena
$23,000,000 – Road work on Washington Street between 47th and 52nd avenues
$18,000,000 – Bike infrastructure such as protected bike lanes
Arts and Culture
$35,500,000 - Denver Art Museum North Building renovation and transportation improvements
To learn more and to see the full list of recommended projects, log on to denvergov.org/2017GObond.