Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Infrastructure

Hillman: Why Coloradans can’t have good roads
The Gazette, Approved, State

Hillman: Why Coloradans can’t have good roads

By Mark Hillman | Commentary, The Gazette ’Tis the season when Colorado highways are teeming with summer travelers, all confronted with the inescapable reality that the state government has absolutely failed in its responsibility to maintain our highways. Last month, the American Society of Civil Engineers quantified this dismal state of affairs: Barely one-third of our state roads are in “good” condition, far below the national average. According to the Colorado Department of Transportation’s analysis, 71% of highway miles under state maintenance have less than 10 years of “drivability” remaining, including more than 800 miles where the drivability life is completely exhausted. Drivers in my home of Kit Carson County know those “exhausted” lanes very well. Interstate 70 just i...
Pete Buttigieg’s DOT blew $80B on DEI while air traffic upgrades stalled
New York Post, Approved, National

Pete Buttigieg’s DOT blew $80B on DEI while air traffic upgrades stalled

By Josh Christenson | New York Post WASHINGTON — Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air traffic control systems while in office — with his agency instead shelling out tens of billions of dollars on a DEI agenda, according to federal spending records and airline industry insiders. In one meeting, Buttigieg — who is said to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run — told industry executives that air traffic control upgrades would just allow them to fly more planes, “and so why would that be in his interest?” sources said. What his department was really interested in was handing out hundreds of diversity, equity and inclusion grants totaling more than $80 billion over four years — at least half of the DOT’s entire budget for a typical fi...
Walcher: Supreme Court ruling is a first step in restoring balance to NEPA
GregWalcher.com, Commentary, National

Walcher: Supreme Court ruling is a first step in restoring balance to NEPA

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com Supreme Court decisions occasionally have far-reaching impacts, but the recent ruling in Utah’s Uintah Basin Railway case was a Doozy, in which the Justices unanimously hinted that Eagle County, Colorado should mind its own business. County Commissioners there had challenged the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the 88-mile rail line, proposed by seven Utah counties as a vital transportation connection from the oil-rich region to the national rail network. Eagle County joined several environmental industry groups fighting the rail line, marginally suggesting it could impact traffic in Eagle County, which the oil trains might pass through on their way to Denver. But the real objection, highlighted in all the opponents’ legal filin...
Mayor Mobolade’s town hall tour met with mixed reviews across Colorado Springs
Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Mayor Mobolade’s town hall tour met with mixed reviews across Colorado Springs

By Brennen Kauffman | Denver Gazette Friday marks two years since Yemi Mobolade was sworn in as Colorado Springs' 42nd mayor. His achievements so far have drawn mixed reactions from the city's residents who attended the Report Out Community Tour events this week. Mobolade launched the tour on May 23, holding a meeting in each of the six Colorado Springs City Council districts to hear how residents felt about the progress made on the goals. The largest turnout was Tuesday night, when several dozen people sat in the auditorium of The Classical Academy for the District 2 meeting. The crowd was unhappy to find out that Mobolade would not be appearing. City staff and council members said he had attended Monday's town hall while sick but had begun feeling worse. Mobolade was absent from...
40% of Arapahoe roads rated poor—even after tax hike
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

40% of Arapahoe roads rated poor—even after tax hike

By Ashley Portillo | CBS Colorado With years of deferred maintenance and not enough funding, some Arapahoe County roads are not getting the repairs they need and are quickly falling apart. County leaders say it's in part due to a major shortfall with the overall county budget and inflation. However, the county hopes that additional revenue generated by the passage of a ballot measure last November might help make much-needed road improvements. The county's 2024 "Annual Report and Infrastructure Report Card" released this May shares more information about the status of the county's roads. The annual report assesses Arapahoe County's $1.7 billion in infrastructure, including roads and bridges, traffic signals, signs and guardrails. With more than 800 miles of roads to m...
Denver Water’s 10-year, $700M project to replace lead pipes gains momentum
Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

Denver Water’s 10-year, $700M project to replace lead pipes gains momentum

By Austen Erblat | CBS Colorado Updating Denver Water's pipes to meet new lead standards is a massive, multi-year project. Denver Water says it's making progress on efforts to replace service lines that use lead in the pipes. The city is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove about 60,000 service lines. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
Biden-Harris’ big-spending infrastructure bill produced little progress on key projects
Approved, National, Washington Examiner

Biden-Harris’ big-spending infrastructure bill produced little progress on key projects

BySarah Bedford | Washington Examiner Democrats have touted the infrastructure bill Congress passed in 2021 as a signature accomplishment of the Biden-Harris administration, but some of its ambitious projects have fallen far short of expectations nearly three years after President Joe Biden signed it into law. A massive program to expand rural broadband access has failed so far to connect any homes to the internet. A push to electrify school bus fleets has proved costly and inefficient. And a multibillion-dollar effort to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations across the country has so far yielded just a handful of stations. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act contained $1.2 trillion in spending on what the White House called “a ...
Rep. Buddy Carter: Key bridge collapse ‘is why we should be fiscally responsible’
Approved, National, Washington Examiner

Rep. Buddy Carter: Key bridge collapse ‘is why we should be fiscally responsible’

ByJenny Goldsberry | Washington Examiner Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) called for more fiscal responsibility amid the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. Carter appeared on Sunday Morning Futures after crews removed the first piece of the collapsed bridge from the Patapsco River on Saturday in an effort to reopen Baltimore’s port. It remains to be seen how much it will cost to rebuild the bridge. “Yes, it needs to be fixed immediately. There’s no question about that. It’s going to be a big impact on our economy,” Carter said. “However, when we get into this, we need to look at a number of different things. First of all, what’s the responsibility of the shipping company? What’s the responsibility of the insurance company? And what about funds ...

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds