Arvada has officially walked away from its long‑planned railroad underpass on W. 72nd Avenue after fresh cost estimates pegged the price at about $137 million. The project would have dropped the roadway beneath Union Pacific tracks just west of Kipling Street and finished a bond‑funded push to widen a stubborn two‑lane bottleneck. City leaders said the ballooning cost would either force cuts to other services or require taking on new debt, so they opted to halt the underpass and start hunting for cheaper fixes.
In a press release from the City of Arvada, officials said mid‑December cost updates showed the underpass total had more than doubled from the original $64.5 million voter estimate and had already blown past a previous $97.5 million forecast. As a short‑term patch, the city plans to restore and repave the corridor from Kipling to Oak and replace sidewalks while it studies other options for the rail crossing.
Local reporting notes that the bond package behind the work was designed to pay for both the W. 72nd and Ralston Road projects, and that the city has drawn roughly $87 million in bonds so far, leaving about $31 million unspent, according to Denverite. Union Pacific, which Arvada had been negotiating with for years, said it had “collaborated extensively” on underpass designs and expressed surprise at the city’s decision to cancel, Denverite reported.
What Comes Next For 72nd Avenue
The city says short‑term work is scheduled to begin in 2026, when crews will repave and restore the stretch from Kipling to Oak while staff dig into lower‑cost options. In a letter to residents, the city manager said he recommended canceling the underpass because moving ahead would not be “fiscally responsible,” and council members agreed to steer the remaining bond dollars toward safer, more affordable improvements. Arvada has set a community open house for Monday, Feb. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Apex Community Recreation Center to walk residents through the details and gather feedback.
Why The Price Jumped
City documents and local coverage point to two main culprits: years‑long delays in securing approvals from Union Pacific and sharp inflation in the transportation construction industry. Together, those forces pushed what had been a reasonable ballot estimate far beyond what the city says it can deliver without putting other services at risk. Denverite also reported that the setback could stretch the overall W. 72nd widening effort out for years and suggested the final buildout might not materialize for five to ten years unless new funding surfaces.
For now, the four‑to‑two lane squeeze west of Kipling is staying put, and drivers can expect the same chokepoint at the rail crossing while Arvada studies at‑grade changes, signal tweaks, and other lower‑cost ideas. City officials say they are still committed to improving safety and mobility along the corridor, but any solution will have to line up with the city’s long‑term financial limits.
