Two of the most expensive projects in Mayor Mike Johnston’s infrastructure spending plan are being prioritized, in part, because of a possible new Denver Broncos stadium at Burnham Yard, city officials told a Denver City Council committee on Tuesday.
The Vibrant Denver bond package includes nearly $90 million to remove part of the 8th Avenue viaduct, turning it into a surface street through the old railyard where the football team is reportedly working on plans for a new stadium.
The proposal also includes another $50 million for repairs, reconfiguration and a design for a future replacement of the 6th Avenue bridge, which also crosses the railyard.
At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady put a spotlight on the possible new Broncos’ stadium, asking why the plan was sending so much funding to the bridges over the railyard.
Meanwhile, proposed road safety improvements on 13th Avenue and 14th Avenue are not getting funding, despite the efforts of council and community members who said those roads are dangerous.
In all, the bond proposal will ask voters to approve $935 million of debt spending on parks, facilities and other infrastructure across the city. The mix of projects has been controversial among council members — and the idea of spending to support a stadium project was the elephant in the room on Tuesday.
“I think we need to have a little more honest conversation about the fact that the Broncos are looking to build a stadium there,” Parady said. “Can you all honestly tell me that that has not come up in the conversations about why those two chunks of road got elevated [in priority] over 13th and 14th [avenues]?”
A DOTI spokesperson said the two bridges over Burnham Yard are dangerous and maintenance has been deferred too long.
Where does a new Broncos stadium begin and traffic concerns end?
Parody directly asked the mayor’s office whether the Broncos were part of the consideration. LLCs associated with the Broncos have been quietly buying up property in the Burnham Yard area, as BusinessDen reported in June.
“It is impossible to ignore the Broncos are a thing in Denver,” acknowledged Patrick Riley, bond program manager for the city’s Department of Finance. “So telling you that that there's no weight there, or that there's no consideration there, would be insulting to everybody at this table.”
“Then why hasn’t it been mentioned up until now?” Parady replied.
Ensuring the Broncos don’t leave Denver for Centennial or Aurora has been a priority of the Johnston administration.
“We will get a long term deal done to keep the Denver Broncos in Denver,” the mayor announced at the 2025 State of the City address on Monday night.
But Riley said that the heavy traffic volume on the Burnham Yard bridges was a larger consideration than a new Broncos stadium.
“If you had to divert that traffic, your options are either sending it to Alameda or sending it to Colfax, and both of those options are really, really bad options,” he said.
What the bond would do for the 6th and 8th avenue bridges:
A recent city presentation said the 6th Avenue bridge required “access improvements to address connectivity needs,” while 8th Avenue would need to be partially removed and reconfigured “to meet future connectivity needs.”
The 6th Avenue project would address “one of the busiest roads in the central core of Denver,” according to documents from the bond proposal. Its piers have deteriorated and “have high criticality and consequence of failure.”
If the 6th Avenue bridge fails, or has load restrictions placed on it, there would be “major consequences for the region,” the documents state. The bond-funded project would include critical structural repairs, “additional connectivity” and access points, and pre-design work for a future replacement of the bridge.
The documents similarly describe the 8th Avenue bridge as an important connector for the central city. The bond project for 8th Avenue would total $89 million, representing the priciest single item in the bond.
The project would remove part of the viaduct, converting the section through Burnham Yard into a surface street. The project would provide “opportunities to reconnect the grid and enhance multimodal infrastructure connectivity.”
The bond package also includes funding for some other bridges, such as a Quebec Street bridge over Airlawn. Dozens of bridges around Denver are rated as “structurally deficient,” and the city’s inventory of bridges was rated a D- on one standard.
Critics acknowledge the repairs are justified, but are still concerned that other community needs are going unfunded.
The city has been trying to fund the 6th Avenue project for years through federal grants. But those grants are in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s administration. The city needs to find a way to move the projects forward, whether the Broncos come to Burnham Yard or not, Riley said.
“This is about life safety,” he said. “This is about our bridges and structures. This is about being able to connect two sides of the city and be safely able to move fire trucks across.”
Parady said many of the projects under consideration are of critical importance.
“The mayor's office-level choices have been a black box to me in a lot of ways, because I think a lot of the explanations we've gotten sort of justify your project,” she said. “But you can justify any of these projects.”
Parady was troubled that preparing Burnham Yards for a future stadium could override other communities’ needs. Councilmember Flor Alvidrez raised concerns about the Alameda underpass and a bridge for the Broadway light rail station, neither of which got bond funding.
Next steps for the bond package
Despite the questions, the committee sent the Vibrant Bond package to the full City Council on a 6-1 vote, with Councilmember Chris Hinds opposing it, citing a failure of the bond committee to adequately communicate with his office.
The council is scheduled to vote Aug. 4 on whether to put the proposal on the election ballot this November.
