Denver council to consider property acquisition for Quebec-AirLawn bridge project

Denver City Council is scheduled to consider a bill Aug. 10 that would authorize the city to acquire property — including through condemnation — for the Quebec & Airlawn Bridge Project. The available record does not show that council has adopted the measure as of Aug. 7.

Council Bill 26-1043 is on the Aug. 10 agenda for final consideration. It would designate property needed for public use and authorize negotiated purchase or condemnation of fee-simple, easement and other interests near Quebec Street between Sandown Road and Interstate 70.

The bill remains listed in second-reading status. The Legistar record shows Finance and Business Committee approval by consent July 21 and a City Council entry Aug. 3 without a recorded result; it does not show a final-action date or vote. The agenda says Aug. 24 is the last regularly scheduled council meeting in the bill’s 30-day review period. Condemnation is proposed authority, not a completed acquisition.

The city’s land-acquisition request identifies two partial commercial-property acquisitions, both owned by CBM Two Hotels LP, which the request identifies as the Courtyard by Marriott owner:

• RW-02A: 9,733 square feet at 4200 N. Quebec St., along the southwest edge of East Airlawn Avenue and the east edge of North Quebec Street.
• RW-02B: 10,786 square feet at 7415 E. 41st Ave., along the north/northeast edge of East Airlawn Avenue and the east edge of North Quebec Street.

The request does not disclose purchase offers, appraisals, compensation, relocation payments or condemnation-award terms. It also does not provide parcel identification numbers beyond the right-of-way labels and addresses.

The project would replace the existing Quebec Street structure over East Airlawn Road with a berm-supported roadway. Denver describes the bridge, built in 1961 and rehabilitated in 2012, as one of the city’s poorest-quality bridges. The current project page says access to the Courtyard by Marriott from 41st Avenue will remain, while the route west of the hotel beneath Quebec will become a pedestrian-only path. The project also aims to fill sidewalk gaps along Quebec and improve connections to the Sand Creek Regional Trail.

A 2025 revised city bond-package document lists a $9.25 million Quebec Street bridge replacement project, but the record reviewed does not establish that as the final or remaining budget. A 2022 city presentation described an approximately 600-foot reconstruction, sidewalks on both sides of Quebec and a trail connection, with construction then projected for late 2024 through late 2025. Denver’s current project page says the scope has changed and some earlier information is outdated; it gives no current construction schedule.

The next record bearing on the acquisition will be council’s Aug. 10 action and any subsequent ordinance or vote record.