 This situation of urban sprawl was a cause of concern, and the Sierra Club ranked the Denver metro area among its 10 worst offenders.In 1999, Colorado residents ranked growth as the state's number one problem.That same year Denver metro area voters approved two property-tax increases to help fund the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) project, which reconstructed congested highways and laid light-rail tracks between downtown and the Tech Center, both of which were made possible through the leadership of the Regional Transportation Districts's CEO at the time, Clarence William Marsella.