Polis Push for Legacy Bridge Meets Overwhelming Public Backlash

By Heather Willard | KDVR Fox 31

DENVER (KDVR) — A proposed pedestrian bridge that would have connected Civic Center Park to the base of the Colorado Capitol building in celebration of Colorado’s 150th anniversary will not be built after the governor’s office received overwhelming results in a survey.

According to the Colorado Governor’s Office, almost 94% of respondents (over 82,000 votes) were against the initiative. The results showed that over 3,000 voters (3.8%) were in favor of the project, while another 2,043 people (2.3%) voted “maybe” on the bridge.

The survey was open through midnight Monday. The project has drawn criticism from numerous groups, including veterans who said their monuments and memorials where the bridge would be located would be “desecrated” by the project.

“This exciting big anniversary for our state is an opportunity for Coloradans to celebrate together, and this survey was all about hearing exactly how we should do that,” said Gov. Jared Polis in a release on Tuesday. “Coloradans were clear, and I will stop the pedestrian walkway proposal in its tracks. If needed, I will chain myself to the Capitol plaza to prevent it from being built and will personally intervene to ensure we listen to Coloradans’ feedback. Coloradans have made our voices heard that the proposed pedestrian walkway is not how we want to celebrate our 150th anniversary. I look forward to engaging with the 250/150 commission on how best to celebrate Colorado and America’s anniversary.”

The walkway would have formed a loop in the northern part of Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park before crossing Lincoln Street and ending at the steps to the Colorado Capitol building. The idea was to showcase Colorado artists and history and also “bridge city and state” by connecting city lands to state lands.

Historic Denver, a nonprofit focused on preserving urban history, called the bridge “functionally useless” and “wasteful,” and said that Denver was not on board, so the bridge was then planned to connect state land to state land.

“Historic Denver welcomes the Governor’s decision not to proceed with the planned bridge over Lincoln Street,” the group said in a statement provided shortly after the governor’s announcement.

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