Denver streets need widening
Streets around the Pepsi Center in Dever will have to be widened before the Denver Grand Prix will be able to go ahead, according to a report in the Denver Post.
Auraria Parkway will have to be widened by 4 feet from Seventh Street to just east of the Pepsi Center for the race on Labor Day weekend.
Organizers originally told the City Council they would pay about $1.3 million for overlay and other improvements on the street to form the 1.65-mile, nine-turn circuit. The contract was approved last year.
But race officials recently notified the Denver public works department that the eastbound lanes must be widened so the entire street is 40 feet wide, as required by international race rules.
The work will cost another $1 million and will be largely paid for by race organizers, city officials have said. Around $50,000 of the costs, however, will be paid for by the city for work that would have been needed even without the race.
Denver officials spent several months negotiating a seven-year contract with an option for a five-year extension.
"We knew we may have to do some widening, but we didn't know how significant it would be," said Holly Brown, director of administration for the Grand Prix of Denver.
Organizers hope to attract 100,000 visitors over the three-day event, organised by The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach.
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