The city of Denver has approved a $15 million contract that will fund a major environmental study of Peña Boulevard and find ways to alleviate traffic snarls along the 11.1-mile thoroughfare.

The five-year contract taps Lakewood-based Peak Consulting Group, LLC to perform National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and partial design services of Peña Boulevard between I-70 and E-470 at Denver International Airport.

The contract was approved Tuesday by a 9-2 vote of the city council, with one councilmember abstaining.

At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady, who did not support the contract, expressed concerns over climate issues and the airport’s projected passenger growth, adding that not enough attention has been given to ways of reducing the number of cars on the road.

“Tonight, we’re voting on a contract with a firm that will conduct a National Environmental Policy Act analysis of several alternatives that the airport has put forth as solutions to this problem, and each of those solutions involves widening Peña Boulevard, Parady said. “So some of them propose widening the road to transit capacity, like a dedicated bus lane, and others propose toll lanes, or just simply more car lanes.”

Airport officials have stated that plane passenger numbers continue to grow, surpassing 80 million last year.

That number is expected to grow to 100 million by 2032.

Average daily traffic along Peña Boulevard has soared from 75,000 in 1995 to more than 136,000 in 2023, an increase of 80%, officials said.

Airport officials insist that to manage growth, maintain supply chain reliability, and continue to boost the local and regional economy, they must tackle pavement and infrastructure deficiencies with Peña Boulevard.

“Most people in Colorado who use Peña Boulevard think of it as a road to Denver International Airport,” District 11 Councilmember Stacie Gilmore said. “But for me and my neighbors, it’s our lifeline. It’s our main corridor to get to school, work, run errands, get groceries, daycare, medical appointments, you name it.”

Gilmore added that traffic congestion often slows emergency response to her constituents.

The study will examine ways to reduce congestion and delays, deliver preliminary design work and shepherd any proposed ideas through the NEPA framework, which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental consequences — including safety impacts — of all federally funded transportation projects and provide opportunities for the public to weigh in and influence outcomes.

Funding for the project would come from two sources: the DEN Enterprise Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and a Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG).

Critics of the contract argue that it should not be approved without considering existing alternatives such as the RTD A Line.

Councilmember Paul Kashmann pressed airport CEO Phil Washington on the DIA’s commitment to fostering alternative ways to get people to the airport.

“We have always said that we are willing to sit down with RTD,” Washington said. “Right now, we are pro-transit. I don’t think there’s anybody more pro-transit than me, who used to lead RTD.”

In its Peña Boulevard Transportation and Master Plan released early last year, airport planners identified five possible options, including adding a frontage road, a bus-only lane specifically for RTD, mountain shuttles, other transit vehicles, a special distributor road to separate different types of airport traffic and a managed lane for car pools.

Washington added that should any new ideas come out of the study, the airport would be open to discussions.

“A NEPA study, such as this, can be done only on a project that a sponsor – DIA, in this case – dia – is able to fund and build,” District 2 Councilmember Kevin Flynn explained. “What it isn’t and, in fact, what it cannot be, is a contract for a general study or analysis of how we can improve regional transit access to the airport.”

Rather than expanding the A Line, Flynn said a better approach would be to look at ways to provide better connections to it.

But that takes time.

“In the meantime, though, as congestion grows on Peña Boulevard, not approving this contract condemns the people in Montbello and Green Valley Ranch to increased emissions and poorer air quality because of slower-moving traffic on the Boulevard and other vehicles diverting into their neighborhoods,” Flynn said.