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February 12, 2015 VOLU M E 1 4 | I S SUE 4
LoneTreeVoice.net A publication of
D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
Two city projects awarded funding Yosemite bridges, RidgeGate widening get monetary boost By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Tony Silva serves chips and guacamole, the Tony Guacamole Food Truck specialty, to a customer outside of 38 State Brewing Co. in Littleton. Photo by Christy Steadman
Food on the move
Mobile meal vending is not just a passing fad By Christy Steadman
csteadman @coloradocommunitymedia.com Las Cazuelas Mexican restaurant in Lakewood has a 40-year history, Tony Silva said, but he “got tired of being confined to the same four walls.” So he started the Tony Guacamole Food Truck last July. The menus, however, are completely different. With the food truck, he is able to specialize in guacamole, and offers three or four different guacamole selections at any given time. “I wanted to take a staple element, like guacamole, and elevate it,” he said on a recent Thursday, his food truck parked at 38 State Brewing Co. in Littleton. In recent years, food trucks like Silva’s have been popping up with greater frequency in the south metro Denver area at breweries, special events and other venues. It’s part of a national trend. A 2012 study by Emergent Research projects the food truck industry in the United States to generate about $2.7 billion in annual revenue by 2017. That’s a fourfold increase over 2012 sales. “From a marketing perspective, the concept of a food truck is kind of brilliant,” said Andrea LaRew, president of the
LICENSED TO DRIVE?
A vendor must go through the proper channels to operate a food truck in the south metro area.
An unusually warm February day brought friends together on the patio at 38 State Brewing Co. in Littleton, where they enjoyed beer, food from Brooks Smokehouse (food truck at right) and fellowship. From left are Larry Franklin, Rick Benge, Randall Holt and Tobin. Photo by Chris Rotar Highlands Ranch Chamber of Commerce. “It allows you to get in front of lots of people who are potential customers.” And for those customers, food trucks offer an easy way to experience some of their favorite cuisine.
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The Tri-County Health Department serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties. On its website, it says a food truck vendor who is licensed in Denver would have to get a different license to operate in the Tri-County area. “Your Denver license is valid only in the City and County of Denver. To sell in Tri-County, you must obtain a State of Colorado Retail Food Establishment License, which authorizes you to sell anywhere in Colorado except the City and County of Denver.” Find more information at www.tchd.org/445/Food-TrucksPush-Carts
Regional funds tagged for Lone Tree will help widen RidgeGate Parkway between Interstate 25 and Parker and build two pedestrian bridges over Yosemite Street at C-470. Both projects are planned for 2019, and will take about a year to complete. The funds were designated for Lone Tree as part of the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ Transportation Improvement Program for projects planned from 2016 to 2021. Douglas County received a total of more than $27 million in TIP funds, including $6.4 million toward the RidgeGate expansion and $2 million for the Yosemite bridges. Though the money is earmarked for specific entities, it won’t be distributed until the projects are awarded in 2019. RidgeGate is now two lanes from I-25 east to Meridian Village. Expanding the three-mile section to four lanes will cost about $22 million, an estimate that includes a bike track and multi-use trails on both sides of the parkway. The 2019 construction plan coincides with the currently expected completion of the southeast light rail extension, which will terminate at RidgeGate Parkway and I-25. Construction of the two bridges planned over Yosemite Street at C-470/Park Meadows Center Drive is estimated to cost about $4 million. The bridges will link two sides of the Centennial Regional bike trail now separated by Yosemite. It also will ease traffic flow at the Yosemite Street entrance to Park Meadows shopping center, which is often disrupted by pedestrians and cyclists activating the “walk” button to safely cross the two busy streets. Without DRCOG funding, Lone Tree public works director John Cotten said the long-desired and often-discussed project likely would not have been possible. Other awards of DRCOG TIP finds included $15 million for widening a portion of U.S. Highway 85, $2 million for work on Castle Rock’s Founders Parkway at Allen Way and about $500,000 for a sidewalk along a portion TIP continues on Page 13
Denver’s Rick Benge joined friends Larry Franklin, of Denver, and Randall Holt, of Littleton, on the patio at 38 State the afternoon of Feb. 7. They enjoyed craft beer and raved about the fare from Brooks Smokehouse, the food truck stationed just a few yards away. The convenience factor is the single most appealing aspect of food trucks, Benge said. “But it’s good quality. I think it’s better than the fast-food chains.”
The evolution
Are you a fan of food trucks? Let us know what you like (or don’t like) at our online poll.
While food trucks are heading into new territory, mobile meal vending is hardly a new concept. In 1866, Charles Goodnight devised a mobile kitchen to be part of a wagon train to feed the pioneers of Western expansion. The 1900s brought field kitchens for American soldiers, Oscar Mayer’s Wiener Mobile — the first hot dog cart — ice cream Food continues on Page 13
A cyclist keeps watch for traffic Feb. 5 while crossing Yosemite Street west at the Park Meadows Center Drive/ Colorado 470 on-ramp. Lone Tree recently received notice it will get state funds to build two bridges over the interchange. Photo by Jane Reuter