6 westword.com WESTWORD JANUARY 15-21, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Denver’s Problem Bridges THE CITY HAS PROMISED TO FIX THESE SEVEN SPANS THROUGH FIVE PROJECTS SLATED FOR COMPLETION BY 2031. BY BENNITO L. KELT Y Most of the bridges that Denver drivers cross every day are in need of repair, some more than others. But the city’s Department of Transportation & Infrastructure is ready to move past the drawing board and get started on the city’s most important vehicu- lar bridge-repair projects in the year ahead. Bridges near Quebec Street and Interstate 70, as well as two viaducts over Burnham Yard and a couple of small overpasses south of Capitol Hill, are DOTI’s highest priority. According to ratings by the National Bridge Inspection Standards, these bridges are highly traffi cked and in “poor” or “fair” condition, which requires extra inspection and restric- tions to prevent deterioration to the point that they’re unusable; these federal standards are designed to prevent the chance of a collapse or other safety risks very early on. Denver has nearly 650 bridges, about 400 of them for vehicular use. According to the NBIS, none of the vehicular bridges are closed, but 51 of them, about 13 percent, are in poor condition, while 210, or 52 percent, are in fair condition. Less than half of Denver’s vehicular bridges, only 34 percent, are in good condition, meaning they have no structural dete- rioration and don’t need major repairs or replacements. Last June, DOTI identified five ma- jor projects replac- ing a total of seven bridges to prioritize, but the city’s Capital Improvement Plan budget, reserved for the most important physical infrastruc- ture improvements, couldn’t cover them all during a budget crisis. According to the city, DOTI se- cured about $170 million for three of those projects in 2025 through the voter-approved Vibrant Denver bond, while one is funded through 2017’s Elevate Denver bond and the other through the CIP budget. Construction on any of those projects isn’t expected until 2027 at the earliest, but all fi ve are expected to be completed before 2031. From east Denver to the Broncos’ future stadium, here are fi ve bridge projects Denver is about to tackle. “Critical” on Quebec Street During a town hall in September, Den- ver Mayor Mike Johnston told residents of Central Park that they had “three of the fi ve top-priority bridges in the city.” Those “critical” bridges included two spanning Quebec Street and one connecting Quebec Street over a smaller street near Interstate 70. DOTI broke those three replacements down into two projects worth $51 million. The larger project is a $41 million replacement of the two east-west bridges along Smith and Sandown roads over Quebec. Lo- cated near Union Pacifi c and RTD rail lines as well as the city’s largest hotel- homeless shelter, “the bridges are more than fi fty years old, are in worsen- ing condition, and do not meet today’s standards,” accord- ing to DOTI. The two bridges were weight- restricted by the Denver Fire Depart- ment in November, so fi re trucks cannot use them to prevent further deteriora- tion. According to DOTI spokes- woman Nancy Kuhn, the $41 million project will be covered through the city’s CIP budget, making it the only one of the fi ve big bridge projects to not rely on any bond funding. The project would start in late 2027 and fi nish by 2030, according to DOTI. Kuhn says the design phase for the new Smith and San- down bridges will wrap up soon, although it was originally supposed to be done by the end of 2025; the city has been gathering community input and planning the project since 2022. According to DOTI’s preliminary plans, the bridges will be “removed” one at a time. The replacement bridges will add ten-foot-wide bike and pedestrian paths and curbed ramps for people with disabilities. Immediately north of the Smith and San- down bridges, Quebec goes over East Airlawn Road, a small two-lane street. The city is investing nearly $10 million to replace that bridge, too, in a separate project. According to DOTI, the bridge over East Airlawn Road was built in 1961 and rehabilitated in 2012, but is now suffering from “advanced deteriora- tion” and could be “a major reliability risk.” The East Airlawn Bridge will be paid for by Elevate Denver bonds. The bridge over East Airlawn is supposed to see construc- tion start by the third quarter of 2026 and is expected to fi nish by 2027, according to the Elevate Denver project list. Building Over a Broncos Stadium? In June, DOTI identifi ed viaducts (bridges with arches under them) connecting west Sixth and Eight avenues over Burnham Yard as high-priority projects, but the department didn’t have an estimate or source of funding. NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS Critical bridges near Burnham Yard and Interstate 70 are in need of major repairs. The most up-to-date preliminary plans for the Smith and Sandown bridges shows wholesale replacements. COURTESY OF DOTI
