Organizers of the Arvada Harvest Festival were concerned about whether Olde Wadsworth Boulevard would be ready for the parade Saturday. However, in its aftermath, done the organizers acknowledge the construction was not as much of a problem as they predicted.
“(Arvada) Urban Renewal (Authority) tried to fix it up so that people wouldn’t fall and break their necks,” said Tim Montgomery, parade coordinator. “For the most part, they did. It still wasn’t what I would have liked. They were a few big rigs that had to jump the curb, but it wasn’t that bad.”
The $2 million streetscape renovation had Olde Wadsworth between West 57th and 58th avenues torn up most of the summer. But construction crews opened the stretch, accommodating the parade traffic as it wound from West 57th eastbound to West 58th westbound.
“I stood there on the corner (of Olde Wadsworth and West 57th) and watched all the big trucks get through, and I didn’t see any problems,” said Tim Steinhaus, AURA executive director. “I think the contractor focused on getting that part open, and they also opened Olde Wadsworth south of Grandview (Avenue), which I think helped.”
Steinhaus said the parade adjustment did not hamper the contractors approaching their Oct. 1 deadline for completion. He said the workers simply redirected their efforts for the parade.
“They didn’t give us any excuses about why they couldn’t do A instead of B,” he said. “When the contract was awarded, we told them there would be the Gold Strike Festival in June and Harvest Festival in September, so they knew what they had to adjust.”