Airports and tunnels: Go west and prosper
April 24, 1995
On a snowy day on the last day in February,
Denver International Airport finally opened its doors after several
embarrassing delays. While DIA left the city of Denver with a black eye,
it nonetheless marked a significant advance in transportation in the West.
Denver and the Rocky Mountain West became home to the world's newest and
largest airport.
![[Inside DIA's terminal on opening day]](v1nwwst1.gif)
Over 65 years earlier, in February 1928, another transportation advance was
heralded as the Moffat Tunnel opened. While the 6.2-mile tunnel to many
remains merely a footnote in Colorado's history, its financing and
construction was full of shenanigans.
The Moffat Tunnel cuts through the Continental Divide in north-central
Colorado. It finally provided Denver a western link through the Divide as
both Cheyenne to the north and Pueblo (Colo.) to the south enjoyed rail
access to the West. Denver's politicos tried for many years,
unsuccessfully, to procure financing for a rail tunnel. At least three
times, a tunnel through the Divide was turned down at the state level. The
tunnel was necessary, Denver claimed, for its "economic development," the
same political mantra used to sell DIA.
In the spring of 1922, Denver's lawmakers in the state legislature found an
opening, albeit a dastardly one. That spring, Pueblo was flattened by a
devastating flood, and Gov. Oliver Shoup called an emergency session of the
legislature. Denver lawmakers now held a powerful trump card. They would
vote for emergency funding for the beleaguered town (an economic rival to
Denver) in return for legislation authorizing the issuance of bonds for
their tunnel. A political deal, as they say, was struck. On April 29, the
Moffat Tunnel Improvement District was created. The following summer, bonds
were sold and construction began. Some believe the resentment in Pueblo,
caused by what essentially was political blackmail, lingers to this day.
All was not smooth sailing for the new district, however. In 1925 bad rock
at the west end of the tunnel held up construction and costs soared. Three
more bond issues were sold before the tunnel was completed. Although the
original cost of the tunnel was pegged at $6.72 million, final assessments
collected by the Moffat Tunnel district, including interest, were
$23,972,843.
Political deals, lingering resentment, cost overruns
— ah, progress! It was just as expensive and full of chicanery years ago as
it is today.
David Iler
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