AURORA | Spanning Interstate 70 east of Tower Road in Aurora, the pedestrian and cyclist bridge that was the last missing piece of the High Line Canal Trail opened to the public officially June 26.
The 71-mile trail starts near Chatfield State Park in the south and ends near the Green Valley Ranch Golf Course in the north, weaving through Denver’s southern suburbs, southeast Denver and Aurora. Along the way, the trail intersects multiple major freeways, including Santa Fe Drive and interstates 25, 70 and 225.
In a news release, the City of Aurora described the 8-foot-wide multi-use path as completing the trail through metro Denver.
“The pedestrian bridge will enhance recreational opportunities and connectivity by completing nearly two miles of multi-use trail to close the gap between Colfax Avenue and East 32nd Parkway,” the release states.
The Denver Regional Council of Governments, Adams County Open Space and the Conservation Trust Fund partnered with the city and helped fund the $9 million project, which broke ground in January 2023, Aurora Parks, Recreation and Open Space spokesperson Griselda Romero said in an email.
Thats fantastic. A new concrete bike path paved up against the old original two-lane Tower Road (a country farm road) out there for 75 years with no improvements pushed to the max traffic every day to service the overflowing city growth. A critical bike path created for a few riders that will use it once and a while, particularly in December, January. In the meantime, Tower Road is bumper to bumper, I-70 to Colfax and has been for years without any widening or turn lanes. Any talk from the city about a plan for this mess? Na, it’s not that important. Makes perfect sense at least $9 million in a new bike bridge. The rest of us car drivers on Tower Road —“Eat Cake”
You sure must enjoy hearing the sound of yourself whining as you stuff your face with “cake”. If you were actually paying attention, you’d know that the city is the middle of developing “a plan for this mess” – https://engageaurora.org/connectingaurora
A map of the entire route, or at least the Aurora segment would have been nice.
This is fantastic. I hope this encourages more building of bike paths. As a life long advocate of health/biking, this path is a great step for all of us.
We need more bike paths.
JP – you can view a map of the entire High Line Canal Trail here: https://highlinecanal.org/guide/
Congrats to the City of Aurora on this important connection!
Therein lies the problem. The city celebrates two miles of trail to close the gap between Colfax Avenue and 32nd. The city has an obligation to review plans, street warrant studies, and complaints to keep ahead or a least up with growth. The city is so far behind the curve, it’s unprecedented. Ramming more buildings into any square inch without even a clue to solve the overcapacity traffic on Tower, now a main artery. It’s clear to most of us that a forced to use our car to get to work every day, Tower is unidentified as important and forgotten to city experts. Now the city is wondering what direction, what should we do? Asking for a few thoughts… Yippee ki yay. Five years late! No worries….
Here’s what will take place, Tower Road will be widened at least a full lane, perhaps squeeze in a half lane to boot. There is no existing shoulder to work with. This new brilliantly thought-out celebrated bike lane, certain sections will need torn out and relocated. So, we will pay to tear it out and move it. That’s how things work. Thus, more naïve thinking, but some always celebrate poor planning regardless and taxpayers will pick up the tab.