Planners ponder Pepsi Centerās impact on Auraria Campus parking and traffic
By Alisha Jeter
The Metropolitan
Two professional sports teams will become Aurariaās neighbors within the next two years, and plans are already in the works to accommodate them.
The city of Denver and Ascent Entertainment Group, owner of the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver
Nuggets, sealed a deal Aug. 12 to build the long-negotiated Pepsi Center, which will replace McNichols Arena as home to both teams. The Pepsi Center will be built on a 50-acre parcel between Auraria and Elitch Gardens amusement park.
The facility, designed to seat over to 20,000 people, brings with it parking and drainage issues.
About 4,400 parking spots are planned for the Pepsi Center lot. Elitch Gardens has agreed to share another 2,200 spaces. But that total will not hold even half of a capacity crowd, said Mark Gallagher, Auraria parking director.
He added that more parking spaces on campus might be needed to accommodate Pepsi Center crowds.
Excess parking spots, including Lot E near Fifth and Seventh streets, will most likely be used for Pepsi Center events. This lot has the largest surface area of any campus lot and is seldom used on evenings and weekends, Gallagher said.
The chance of daytime parking problems on campus will be slim since most basketball and hockey games and concerts will be scheduled in the evening.
Gallagher wants to look into the possibility of students parking at the Pepsi Center should enrollment increase.
ćWeāre hoping to work out an opportunity where we would assist them and they would assist us,ä Gallagher said.
Gallagher and the builders discussed traffic concerns about a year ago when negotiations with the city began. High traffic areas will include Seventh and Ninth Streets and the Auraria Parkway, all of which will be access roads to the Pepsi Center.
Gallagher said he anticipates discussing parking relief with Ascent before the construction is completed and overcrowded parking lots become an issue.
ćOur goal is to park students, faculty and staff before we talk to anyone else,ä he said.
But before anyone can park at the planned arena, Pepsi Center officials must deal the problem of water drainage.
Storm drainage pipes running along the campus from about Fifth Street to Speer Boulevard are too small, said
Vern Paiz, supervisor of plumbing for Auraria Facilities Management. This creates runoff problems.
The drainage system proved to be inadequate during an Aug. 11 downpour, which forced hail into the lines and blocked water flow, Paiz said.
The excess water flowed into the Tivoli Student Union ÷ causing thousands of dollars in flood damage ÷ and future storms likely would have the same effect if the system isnāt enlarged. The line also happens to run beneath the future Pepsi Center site and would need to be rerouted before construction could begin.
