38th Avenue’s width and worth are still open to debate

Breckenridge Brewery founder Richard Squire spoke at the Jan. 26 city council meeting, inquiring about the future of 38th Avenue after the failure of last year’s ballot initiative.

Wheat Ridge voters rejected ballot initiative 2B, which would have changed the street width designations for 38th Avenue. Wheat Ridge residents voted 57.3 percent against the initiative which would have made the width of 38th Avenue 47 feet wide from Upham Street to High Court, 41 feet from High Court to 230 feet east of High Court and 35 feet from there to Marshall Street.

Many, including District two councilman Zachary Urban, have argued that the reason for the vote is because people are against the narrowing of 38th Avenue. A road diet –;or lane reduction –; transformed 38th from a major thoroughfare to more of a destination street, but has increased traffic congestion in the process, according to some.

Not much news has come from council on the future of the project in aftermath of the ballot initiatives defeat. Back in November, council said it would look at other options for 38th that encapsulate the vision of the city staff and the city’s residents.

Squire wanted an update, he said. AHe had plans to bring a Breckenridge Brewery to Wheat Ridge but decided against it, saying the road diet threatens to curb the volume of customers the restaurant could receive.

It would take $ 3 or $ 4 million to build the restaurant, but the business would have to bring in $ 400,000 monthly to make it a worthwhile investment, he said. That’s a goal Squire doesn’t think Wheat Ridge can attain with 38th the way it is.

“You need to do $ 400,000 a month in a restaurant to really cash it in and make somebody say, ‘Hey, I want to go there and build this place,’ ” he said.  “To do that kind of business you have trucks and cars and people and stuff like that. And you simply cannot do with that street pinched off, it’s just impossible.”

Other restaurant owners who possess the means to make such an investment would also shy away from 38th for similar reasons, Squire said.