Aerotropolis is an urban plan in which the layout, infrastructure, and economy are centered on and around an airport.
The Aerotropolis Regional Transportation Authority (ARTA) encompasses roughly 3,000 acres south of Denver International Airport (DEN). The Board of Directors consists of three voting member jurisdictions: Adams County, The City of Aurora, and the Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District (AACMD). The Aurora City Council, The Board of County Commissioners of Adams County and the AACMD executed an intergovernmental agreement establishing ARTA. The Authority will oversee the budget and phasing plans for critical regional transportation infrastructure and finance regional transportation improvements needed to improve access across Aurora and Adams County including additional connections from Interstate 70 to DEN, new interchanges on E-470, as well as extensions of several critical arteries throughout the district
AURORA — The idea of an “aerotropolis” in the shadow of Denver International Airport has for years been aspirational talk among metro-area civic leaders hoping to create a kind of mini-city fueled by proximity to one of the country’s largest and busiest airports.
This month, in an unassuming room on the fifth floor of the Aurora Municipal complex, a group of government leaders, attorneys and underwriters met over a lunch of gyros and Greek salad and finally put up money — $22.5 million to start — to back up all the chatter.
The Aerotropolis Regional Transportation Authority voted May 17 to issue bonds toward what will amount to $200 million in transportation improvements over the next dozen years — including new interchanges on E-470 and Interstate 70 and a major north-south thoroughfare to rival Peña Boulevard — in a vast swath of mostly vacant land south of DIA.
The money is scheduled to drop into the authority’s account in June, and work on a new connection of yet-to-be-built 38th Avenue to E-470 will commence almost immediately thereafter.
“We’ve heard from (developers) around the world that they want to be there, but there was no way to get there,” said Matt Hopper, chair of the Aerotropolis Regional Transportation Authority, which is anchored by council members and commissioners from Aurora and Adams County. “Our charge is to create regional connectivity that will stimulate economic opportunity.”
