One neighbor removed his objections when the center offered to clean out the well. Two others have dropped their objections, a spokeswoman for the center said. While another neighbor didn't drop his objections, he gave up the fight because he said there was no way to beat the multimillion-dollar center. Hartung said his well has been negatively affected by the center, but that the controversy at least forced the center to get the required state permit. But the lure of money may not be enough to get all the cities to follow along with the idea.
Some cities remain skeptical because they see the study diverting money from other needed projects.
That's working on something that's 20 years out. And some, like Golden, view the state's study simply as a way to force the building of a road that is not yet needed. A county-sponsored study last year concluded that for the next 20 years, building the link from Interstate 70 in Golden north to Broomfield would not be the best solution for worsening traffic congestion. Improvements to existing roads such as Wadsworth Boulevard would move traffic better, the study concluded. The state has said it would also fund a second study to figure out what to do with Wadsworth and other existing roads.