E-470

Infobox road
marker_

highway_name=E-470
maint=E-470 Public Highway Authority


length_mi=46.950
length_round=1
length_ref=Colorado Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.co.us/app_DTD_DataAccess/Highways/index.cfm?fuseaction=HighwaysMain&MenuType=Highways Highway Data] , accessed October 2007: note that not every interval between mileposts is exactly a mile, explaining why more exits than expected are at the exact milepost]
established=1991
direction_a=South
terminus_a=Jct|state=CO|I|25|SH|470 in Lone Tree
junction=Jct|state=CO|I|70 in Aurora
Jct|state=CO|I|76 in Commerce City and Brighton
direction_b=North
ending_terminus=Jct|state=CO|I|25 in Thornton
cities=Aurora
Denver

E-470 is a 46-mile (74-km) limited-access tollway traversing the eastern portion of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area in Colorado. The toll road is not a state highway, but is instead maintained by the E-470 Public Highway Authority.

Route description

The tollway begins at the I-25 / SH 470 interchange in Lone Tree and runs east and north through Aurora, intersecting with I-70. The highway continues north, passing west of Denver International Airport to connect with I-76 in Brighton and Commerce City before curving west and ending at an interchange with I-25 and the Northwest Parkway in Thornton.

The 470 Beltway

E-470 is the eastern portion of what was originally conceived as I-470, an outer beltway for metropolitan Denver. Plans for this eastern extension of State Highway 470 gained momentum in the 1980s, as Denver moved forward with plans for a new international airport in its corridor. Recognizing the highway's development potential, a number of local governments joined together to create the E-470 Public Highway Authority, a quasi-governmental entity that would construct the highway. The highway would be financed through tolls, a relative rarity in the western U.S. The first section, between I-25 in the south and Parker Road in Douglas County, opened in 1991. The highway was opened segment by segment until the final stretch connecting to I-25 in the north in Adams County opened for traffic in 2003.

The toll rate on E-470, roughly 18 cents per mileFact|date=August 2007, is one of the highest rates of any toll road in the United States.Fact|date=August 2007 E-470 was the first highway in the United States to implement full highway-speed electronic tolling. In its early years, traffic was light as the completed portion was short and traversed a largely undeveloped area. With the opening of Denver International Airport in 1995, E-470 came into its own as a direct route to the airport from the rapidly growing southern tier of the metropolitan area. Upon its completion, the highway provided the same access for northern Colorado, itself a high-growth area. However, perhaps the most significant growth in the region will occur in the E-470 corridor itself, which spawned numerous annexations by member cities; Commerce City has doubled in land area in anticipation of this new development. In the coming decades, 250,000 new residents are expected along the E-470 corridor in Aurora alone, which would nearly double that city's population.

Ownership and management

The E-470 Public Highway Authority consists of eight member jurisdictions: Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas counties and the cities of Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Thornton, and the town of Parker. In addition to all of these jurisdictions, E-470 also passes through the City and County of Denver near Denver International Airport. Affiliate, non-voting members of the Authority, which the highway does not directly serve, are the cities of Arvada and Greeley, and Weld County and the City and County of Broomfield. Ex-officio members are the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Regional Transportation District. The authority is headquartered in Aurora.

Exit list

ee also

*State Highway 470
*Northwest Parkway

References

External links

* [http://www.e-470.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ppp/e470.htm Federal Highway Administration Case Study]
* [http://www.mesalek.com/colo/denvers470.html Denver's 470 Saga]