Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has a legacy itch he’s trying to scratch—with a $29 million golden footbridge to nowhere. Eric Sondermann at Colorado Politics slices and dices Polis’s vanity project in a July 19, 2025, column that reads like a masterclass in smirking civic eulogies. The “CO150 Walkway” is Polis’s eyebrow-raising plan to commemorate Colorado’s quasquicentennial and America’s semi-quincentennial by plopping a pedestrian bridge across Civic Center Park. One problem: nobody else wants it—not lawmakers, not watchdogs, not even the budget. Sondermann’s take is a stiletto through the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Bridge Over Budgeted Nonsense: Polis’s proposed bridge would cost $28.5 million—and that’s before maintenance, graffiti removal, and security for the inevitable tent city underneath.
- Legacy or Vanity Project? This isn’t just a bridge; it’s a monument to ego, built on leftover pandemic relief funds. You know, the money meant to help people, not cement the governor’s name in a plaque.
- Bipartisan Hell No: When both Republicans and Democrats think your idea sucks, maybe rethink it. The six-member Capital Development Committee hit Polis with a unified “Nope.”
- Survey Shenanigans: Polis touted a secure online poll to “hear from the people.” Turns out, the only thing more fake than the bridge is the poll’s protections—voters could cast multiple ballots like it was Chicago in 1960.
- Exit, Stage Left: With political heat rising and media watchdogs circling, Polis is hunting for an off-ramp, not unlike a kid realizing his lemonade stand lost $400.
My Bottom Line
If Polis really wanted to commemorate Colorado’s statehood, maybe he could’ve funded schools, fixed roads, or hell, bought everyone a weed voucher and called it good. But no—he aimed for an architectural selfie. This bridge isn’t a celebration of the past or the future. It’s a shrine to one man’s need to be remembered. Unfortunately, that memory will now include flushing millions of taxpayer dollars down a design-chic toilet. The fact that the legislature isn’t buying it, that local news is roasting it, and that Historic Denver thinks it’s an aesthetic war crime tells you everything you need to know. Jared, you had power, budget, and pandemic dollars—and this was your idea? Maybe take that bridge and walk yourself straight out of presidential fantasy land.
Anywho, Monday, July 21, is the last day to vote in the Guv’s phony poll. You can do that HERE.
