Denver voters recently gave a thumbs-up to an $89 million overhaul of Denver’s 8th Avenue Viaduct, part of Mayor Mike Johnston’s $950 million Vibrant Bond package — a six-year accelerated bond to fund city infrastructure such as roads, bridges and parks.

But was the pricey project, at almost 10% of the bond’s total value, inevitable? Or did the prospect of a new stadium for the Denver Broncos, which had been floated along the same timeline as the bond, help accelerate repairs on the bridge that have been lingering for years?

The 8th Avenue Viaduct is a long elevated roadway bridge that runs east to west, just south of downtown Denver and over the former Burnham Rail Yard. It links streets such as Osage, Mariposa and Tejon with areas to the east.

The project, as described by the city, will redesign and rebuild a section of 8th Avenue to improve connectivity and safety.

The redesign includes replacing the elevated structure, leaving the western portion of the viaduct, removing the eastern portion, and reconstructing the east portion as an at-grade roadway after it ramps down over the Consolidated Main Line freight rail tracks, according to city documents.

An additional $50 million from the bond would go toward repairs, reconfiguration, and design work for the future replacement of the 6th Avenue bridge, which also crosses the railyard.

The viaduct intersects where the Broncos plan to build their new stadium. 

While there has been little pushback over the need for repairs to the structure, the project’s timing has raised as many questions as eyebrows about whether the Denver Broncos’ future stadium plans influenced the bridge’s priority status.

“It is impossible to ignore the Broncos as a thing in Denver, so telling you that there’s no weight there, or that there’s no consideration there, would be insulting to everybody at this table,” Patrick Riley, Denver Department of Finance Vibrant Bond Program Manager, told members of a City Council Committee meeting in July.

Essentially, the viaduct work, which will be paid for by the Vibrant Denver bond, builds out a large chunk of the city’s infrastructure needed to support businesses and transit surrounding the new stadium.

The funding and timing of the viaduct project spurred debate among some council members, who questioned why it was moved up the priority list ahead of other projects, such as those for 13th and 14th Avenue. 

“We have other bridges that are in bad shape, and we have other parts of the high injury network where people get killed frequently,” At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady said.

City officials stated that the bridge’s deteriorating condition was the primary reason it moved up the list.

Regardless of the bond funding, Riley said, repairs to the 40-year-old bridge would still be needed, whether or not the Broncos built a new stadium in Denver.

Earlier in 2025, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure closed the bridge for emergency repairs.

“Whether the Broncos come here, whether Burnham Yard stays empty, whether some other development happens here, and it turns into housing and mixed use, an unsafe structure is an unsafe structure,” Riley said. “It was completely independent of the Broncos. It’s completely independent of what the future of Burnham Yard is.”

Although no formal studies or numbers have emerged, speculation around the new stadium’s potential economic impact has grown into the billions of dollars.

But while there’s no real smoking gun confirming what some suggest, it is hard to deny that the city-funded infrastructure improvements will benefit the Broncos and the city’s coffers.

The project will include city and state support for public improvements with no new taxes.

Specifically, the Broncos have “conceptual agreements” with the state to purchase the 58-acre rail yard and with Denver Water to purchase 25 acres of land. Private real estate acquisitions will comprise the remaining preferred site, according to the statement from team officials.

The preferred site for the privately funded retractable-roof stadium will serve as the anchor for a new mixed-use district.

Team leadership has submitted a high-level preliminary draft of its plans to the city.

According to the plan, a site development plan is expected in the summer of 2026, and building permits are expected in early 2027.

The targeted completion date for the new stadium is the 2031 season, which aligns with the expiration of the Broncos’ current lease with the Metropolitan Football Stadium District at Empower Field at Mile High. 

The Broncos have the option to extend the lease, if needed.