AURORA | After years of failed attempts to find a way to extend East Sixth Avenue across a key stretch of the city’s eastern edge, a new intergovernmental agreement is due to provide Aurora officials with a revenue source to get the job done.
At a regular city council meeting Nov. 23, Aurora City Council members unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the E-470 Public Highway Authority to close that gap in the city’s road network for an initial cost of $19.9 million.
Aurora City Councilwomen Molly Markert (who is traveling) and Marsha Berzins (whose father recently died) were absent from the vote.
Extending East Sixth Avenue from Buckley Air Force Base to connect with E-470 has long been in the plans for council members and city staff. Multiple ballot initiatives to secure funding for the upgrade have been unsuccessful over the years.
“This provides a long-missing, east-west connection,” said Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan. “Right now, the only connections out there are Colfax (Avenue) on the north and Jewel (Avenue) on the south. There is no other way east-west to make a connection with the existing portion of Aurora and that portion of Aurora that is east of E-470. This doesn’t finalize everything that needs to be done, but makes it possible to do what we need to do.”
Under the agreement, the public highway authority will provide $2 million and a $2-million loan for construction of the project. As part of the agreement, the city will pay the authority $228,500 annually. The loan’s term is 10 years with a 2.5 percent interest rate, compounded annually. The city has budgeted the IGA into its 2016 city budget, with plans to start annual payments for the loan in 2018 as part of the capital improvement plan.
While the discount rate is low. Good work, council!