Do you want an $18 million bridge for Colorado's 150th birthday? Take Gov. Jared Polis's survey

CBS News

16-07-2025

Gov. Jared Polis wants to hear from you. He's conducting a survey to find out how Coloradans want to celebrate the state's 150th birthday next year.
It comes after his idea for an $18 million pedestrian bridge from the Colorado State Capitol to Veterans' Memorial Park sparked an uproar.
The governor admits he didn't expect such a visceral reaction when he released renderings of the Colorado 150 Walkway in May.
"One thing I was excited about is there was so much passion. But how do you measure that?" he said.
He isn't convinced the people who've voiced opposition to the bridge represent where most Coloradans are at so, he's decided to get a bead on public sentiment with a survey.
"Rather than just sort of stick our finger in the wind, let's try to get some data behind this," he said.
The survey -- at co150walkway.com -- not only asks whether Coloradans want the walkway but whether they want it scaled back and, if they don't want it, what they want instead. There's also a question about whether people are more excited to celebrate Colorado's 150th anniversary or the nation's 250th anniversary, which both happen next summer.
"We're the kid with the Christmas birthday, right," the governor said. "Our birthday is Christmas. Like, Colorado is the only state where our big anniversaries are on our country's big anniversaries."
He says, whatever the survey results are, he will honor them.
"We can quickly pivot to something else," he said. "What would be a nightmare to me is if (the survey) comes back and it's like 50.2% to 49.8%."
"And then what?" CBS Colorado Your Political Reporter Shaun Boyd asked.
"And then we're kind of where we are and we have to make our best judgement on where to go."
But he says ultimately, it's not about what he wants.
"I happen to be the guy in the seat who helps to orchestrate this birthday event. And yes, President Trump gets to be the guy in the White House who orchestrates our 250th. So whether you like me, whether you like Trump is irrelevant. It's about our birthday, and we want to make sure we observe that appropriately."
The survey will be open until midnight Monday.
There has been some confusion around the cost of the walkway. The governor says it's $18 million, not $28 million. The other $10 million, he says, is for improvements to the park that will take place over several years. Polis says $8 million of the $18 million will come from the state and he plans to raise the other $10 million.