The Denver International Airport is WAY out in the sticks. I have no idea of what this “short cut” was. There are major highways all the way there from Denver proper.
There is a ridge that you drive along to get to the airport. It’s VERY Steep on the side. There is a chance that the traffic was made to jump off (And yea, roads there change all the time with new ones coming and going to different parts of the airport property which is HUGE)
I can see this happening.
And they're all parking lots. Bumper to bumper traffic and you won't find a single person in it who was actually born in Colorado.