Web Article on City of Centennial Council IGA Study Published & Websites Established

Summary of Study Presentation to City of Centennial Council

This web article describes a quick write up summary of what happened in at last night's (September 14, 2009) City of Centennial's City Council meeting where Bryan Weimer presented to the City Council the IGA for Arapahoe I-25 Environmental Assessment Study. It was an overflow crowd estimated at about 75-100 people, and many residents spoke to the City Council about their concern on this proposed construction.

Recall that this study involves the rework of Arapahoe Road and the it's associated I-25 interchange in order to relive traffic congestion, and (most importantly for the surrounding neighborhoods) advocates the construction of an underpass under I-25 south of Arapahoe Road which would extend East Costilla Ave from East of I-25 to South Yosemite St West of I-25.

The final location of where the East Costilla Ave would intersect South Yosemite Street has yet to be finalized, Mr Weimer proposal depicted the entrance location to be just North of the Safeway building.

Other locations for the entrance have been describe in flyers distributed by Centennial Neighbors (info@centennialneighbors.org) on September 5, 2009 which depict East Costilla Avenue connecting instead to South Alton Way. South Alton Way is a North-South crescent-shaped road that is East of South Yosemite Street and connects to South Yosemite Street in two locations: North and inline with East Briarwood Blvd, and South and inline with South Xanthia Street.

It is unknown if the South Alton Way alternative is being seriously considered, but Mr. Weimer did note in his presentation that the Environmental Assessment study is required by law to evaluate any alternatives presented by any party.

It is noted that since the proposed entrance location (North of the Safeway building) would require de-construction of the Southeast corner of the building that is North of the Safeway building, and since that building's owner has already retained legal representation (who also spoke to the City Council), it is expected that many business interests will plead their cases to the City Council.

The content of this article is also replicated in a post to this blog. The link the the NeighborhoodLink webpage is: Arapahoe Road Corridor / I-25 Underpass Project (http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/Walnut_Hills/pages/45305), I have also posted this link on Twitter, (follow WalnutHillsCN) and I have established a Facebook page (search for: "WalnutHills CentennialNeighbors") for this effort as well.


Websites Established

Note that although the Walnut Hills Civic Association does have an excellent website, and although I am a board member and neighborhood 3 representative, I am not using the Association's website to disseminate this information, for I am not the webmaster of that website and so do not have posting privileges, and -- in any case -- the Civic Association would most likely desire stronger group control and consensus on the information that might be published than could effectively be granted.

More importantly, the (Neighborhood Link (http://www.neighborhoodlink.com) website supports robust interactive community participation by community members and neighborhood residents by design, and has always been used as a secondary communication resource and communication path the the residents in Walnut Hills and Hunters Hill. Anyone in the community can create an account and add a webpage or link, ant the site offers a discussion area where residents can voice their opinions and concerns as well as event calendars to track and publish upcoming events and meetings.

Also, in the process of creating this blog and its association Gmail account, I have created a secondary website as well (http://sites.google.com/site/walnuthillscn/home).

Although Bob Ragnow (info@centennialneighbors.org) is in the process of developing a centralized website for this community effort, it is not yet active. Until Bob's website becomes active, or prehaps in addition too that main website, this website Walnut Hills Centennial Neighbor (http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/Walnut_Hills/home) might work as a substitute and as a good secondary communication path for our organizing efforts against this proposed I-25 Underpass .

Also, in the process of creating this blog and its association Gmail account, I have created a secondary website as well (http://sites.google.com/site/walnuthillscn/home).

Perhaps unfortunately, we are now living in a time where there is an abundance of methods and services to communicate ones opinions. However, I am sure that we will be able to leverage the many social electronic media that is now freely available (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Google Blogs/Websites/Email, and NeighborhoodLink, and let's not forget the old standby, the telephone and just talking to your neighbor!) in our efforts to build a strong and active grassroots opposition to this construction proposal. We'll see which medium works best in getting the word out.

Thanks, I can be reached at: WalnutHills.CentennialNeighbors@gmail.com