Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Transportation

Train conductor who revived ski train wants to fix I-70 traffic with ‘rail bridge’
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Train conductor who revived ski train wants to fix I-70 traffic with ‘rail bridge’

By David O. Williams | Denver Gazette A longtime Amtrak train conductor credited with crafting a business plan that helped revive the mothballed Winter Park Express ski train in 2017 now has a plan to get at least 60% of the commercial truck traffic off of Interstate 70 and free it up for skiers, snowboarders and other mountain travelers. Brad Swartzwelter, 60, retired as conductor of the ski train last spring after 30 years with Amtrak, the federal rail agency that runs the popular, seasonal and recently expanded ski train service between Denver’s Union Station and the city of Denver’s Winter Park Resort. “I-70 congestion has cost us dearly in the snow sports industry, and it is my absolute mission in life … to get people safely, conveniently and economically up to our economic e...
Mesa County Commissioner advocates for fair share of transportation dollars
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Mesa County Commissioner advocates for fair share of transportation dollars

By Lindy Browning | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice With an ever shrinking budget, and an ever increasing demand for state money for road repairs and construction due to increasing population and use on the Western Slope, Mesa County Commissioner, Bobbie Daniels went to the state legislature to put a spotlight on the needs of western Colorado. Her testimony highlighted the growing disparity between urban and rural infrastructure funding and the critical need for investment in the roads that keep Colorado moving. Rural communities, which already face resource limitations, are disproportionately affected. Large-scale infrastructure projects in these areas rely heavily on state and federal funding. Yet, much of the transportation budget is allocated to specialized urban pro...
Highway signs on C-470 honor Kendrick Castillo, 2019 STEM School shooting hero
Approved, DENVER7, Local

Highway signs on C-470 honor Kendrick Castillo, 2019 STEM School shooting hero

By Jeff Anastasio | Denver 7 News Drivers on C-470 will notice a change to overhead highway signs to reflect the renaming of the former Lucent Boulevard to Kendrick Castillo Way, honoring the hero student who charged a gunman and ultimately lost his life during the 2019 STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch. The highway signs are expected to be swapped out this week after Castillo’s family and officials unveiled Kendrick Castillo Way back in November. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVER 7 NEWS
Denver transportation officials agree to scale back neighborhood bikeway measures
Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Denver transportation officials agree to scale back neighborhood bikeway measures

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette A group of Denver residents seeking to slow the city's roll on a Park Hill neighborhood bikeway project got their wish Thursday morning. District 9 Councilmember Darrell Watson and officials from the city’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) at a neighborhood meeting returned a compromise plan that would remove many of the “unsightly” bollards, but still prioritize the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. The compromise replaces many of the flex posts and bollards of concern to neighbors east of City Park and north of Colfax Boulevard with speed cushions that would act as traffic calming treatments, but still provide an element of safety to pedestrians and bicyclists. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
$71M project to address ice buildup in Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels
Approved, kdvr.com, State

$71M project to address ice buildup in Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels

By Rachel Saurer | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News The iconic Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels on the Interstate 70 corridor might soon be getting a facelift after the Colorado Department of Transportation noticed more ice buildup over the past several years.  “With any structure, especially one as complex as this tunnel, there’s going to be some aging, there’s going to be some maintenance needed on the tunnel,” said Stacia Sellers, a spokesperson for CDOT. The Eisenhower Tunnel was built in 1973 and the Johnson Tunnel was built in 1979, so both have seen their share of wear and tear. When they were built, the two held their title as the highest tunnel in the world, and now they are still considered the longest mountain tunnel in the United States. READ THE FULL STORY AT ...
Motorists are paying the price — $11.4B annually, to be exact — for state’s crumbling roads
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Motorists are paying the price — $11.4B annually, to be exact — for state’s crumbling roads

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s deteriorating roads are hitting residents — and their vehicles — hard, in Grand Junction costing drivers an average of $1,704 annually in extra repairs, fuel costs, congestion delays and crash-related expenses.  Statewide, the cost is estimated to be $11.4 billion a year, according to a January 2025 report by TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit. Meanwhile, inflation and rising construction costs are chipping away at recent funding increases. Rocky Moretti, TRIP’s director of policy and research, highlighted the challenge: “Colorado, in 2021 — both through legislation in Colorado, but also through the federal bipartisan infrastructure legislation — was able to significantly increase investment in ...
Speed cameras coming to Colorado roadways amid doubling of construction-zone deaths in 2024
Approved, gazette.com, Local

Speed cameras coming to Colorado roadways amid doubling of construction-zone deaths in 2024

By Mackenzie Bodell | The Gazette The state’s latest effort to crack down on speeding and reduce traffic fatalities comes amid an alarming increase in construction-zone deaths, which nearly doubled in 2024. The Colorado Department of Transportation released preliminary data from 2024 that reflects a roughly 5% decrease in traffic fatalities overall compared to 2023. Continued efforts by CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol hope to further reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by 22.5% by 2027, as part of Gov. Jared Polis’ overall safety goal for Colorado. Statewide construction-zone deaths totaled 31 in 2024, up 94% from the previous year, which saw 16. In El Paso County alone, 13 construction-zone deaths were reported. Four of those fatalities were in...
Passenger rail advocates push state to connect southern, western Colorado
Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Passenger rail advocates push state to connect southern, western Colorado

By David O. Williams | Denver Gazette Passengers or petroleum products? That’s one of the key questions being bandied about in a renewed effort to revive part of the long-dormant Tennessee Pass rail line linking southern Colorado to the state’s Western Slope. As the Polis administration continues to focus almost exclusively on planning for passenger rail in the northern Front Range and through the northern mountains between Denver and Craig, some rail advocates, experts and elected officials are urging the state to study the out-of-service Union Pacific rail line between Pueblo and western Eagle County that last saw freight trains in 1997. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
There’s a new alternate route to get from Eastern Plains to Denver International Airport
Approved, kdvr.com, Local

There’s a new alternate route to get from Eastern Plains to Denver International Airport

By Maddie Rhodes | Fox 31 News There’s a new way to get to and from the Denver International Airport without dealing with the parking lot. Usually, people traveling in and out of DIA either park at the airport or use public buses, trains or ride shares — but now, people heading to and from northeast Colorado have a new option. The Colorado Department of Transportation said the Bustang Outrider Sterling route added a stop at DIA, which started on Friday. CDOT said the stop filled a transportation gap for more than 400,000 residents in rural communities. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
Potential gubernatorial candidates suggest new approaches to transportation
Approved, State, The Sum & Substance

Potential gubernatorial candidates suggest new approaches to transportation

By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance Two of Colorado’s leading potential gubernatorial candidates suggested Wednesday that the state should focus more attention on maintaining and upgrading highway infrastructure, signaling a potential shift could be coming in transportation policy. Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser and Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, who are both rumored to be eying runs to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in 2026, spoke at a Move Colorado event on what’s next for transportation in the state. Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse sent a video to the event because Congress remains in session, while Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a fourth rumored candidate, had to miss the event because of a pressing issue, organizers said. ...

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