CDOT
A Highway Divides It: Delay in I-70 Expansion Gives Pause to Ponder Options
Between the daily headlines shouting out Millennial takeovers and Denver’s housing shortage, you’ve probably heard about the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) plan to widen I-70 by four lanes between I-25 and Tower Road. At $1.7 billion and about 12 miles long, the project is hard to miss. It’s massive in cost and scope. It … Continued
October 27, 2016
DPW and CDOT Will Build Much-Needed Sidewalks on Hampden and Havana
If you’re walking to catch a bus, go shopping, or get to school, Denver’s golf courses can make you feel like a second-class citizen. That’s because the streets abutting golf courses are often missing sidewalks — so you end up walking on a makeshift dirt path in between manicured greens and high-speed traffic. At John F. Kennedy Golf … Continued
September 19, 2016
CDOT’s “Fred Estrian” Cartoons Won’t Save People From Its Deadly Streets
https://youtu.be/yEfX-F32lJk From Colorado DOT — the same state roads agency that brought you Hank, the lovable idiot who blamed pedestrians for getting hit by drivers, and then promptly axed the tone-deaf campaign — comes a brand new way to not die while crossing the street: “Fred Estrian.” Get it? Fred Estrian is the face of … Continued
September 15, 2016
#StreetFail: Golfers Enjoy Luxurious Sidewalks While Bus Riders Take a Hike
Here’s a sad joke on Colorado Boulevard. This bus stop near 38th Avenue on the edge of Park Hill Golf Course requires people to walk and wait on a ridge of lumpy dirt. Weeds, plants, and bushes create an impassable route for wheelchair users and a dangerous one for everyone else. The RTD stop is … Continued
July 13, 2016
Colorado DOT Claims Its Latest Seat Belt Campaign Saves Pedestrians
Billboards reminding people to wear seat belts are not an innovative way to end traffic deaths, but they are an easy box to check. Colorado DOT’s latest iteration of the tired tactic comes in the form of a giant airbag downtown that warns drivers and passengers not to depend on said airbag to save their … Continued
June 16, 2016
Colorado DOT’s “Road Health” Summit All About Car Tech, Not Safe Streets
How far has the Colorado Department of Transportation come since its days as the Colorado Department of Highways? Not very far, judging by Denver’s high-speed, state-owned streets like Colfax and Federal. While Colorado DOT Director Shailen Bhatt talks a good game, the agency he runs has shown almost no inclination to create walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented streets … Continued
June 14, 2016
Hickenlooper’s DOT Casts Itself as the Hero in I-70 Propaganda Film
Colorado DOT has produced a half-hour documentary about Colorado DOT saving Elyria, Swansea, and Globeville from an old highway. How does Colorado DOT come to the rescue? By building an enormous new highway, of course! This 30-minute piece of propaganda, called “Changing Lanes,” cost taxpayers $88,000 to make. The film was produced to fulfill federal historic preservation requirements, … Continued
May 2, 2016
CDOT Can’t Afford to Maintain Its Roads But Wants to Spend Big to Widen I-70
Colorado Public Radio aired a story today about the looming budget crunch facing Colorado DOT. In a nutshell, the agency can’t afford to maintain all the highways it’s built: Roads need upkeep. It often feels as though interstates need more lanes. And there’s constant pressure for more mass transit options, both to help folks get around – … Continued
March 7, 2016
Do It Today: Tell Hickenlooper to Stop the Mega-Highway Thru North Denver
If Colorado DOT builds its I-70 widening project, north Denver will be saddled with more traffic, more pollution, and more disconnected neighborhoods for generations. CDOT would have you believe the widening is a done deal, but it’s not — Governor John Hickenlooper could save the city from this relic of 1950s-era transportation planning if he chooses. One window of opportunity to weigh in on … Continued
March 2, 2016
The One Person Who Can Stop the I-70 Widening Is John Hickenlooper
While Colorado DOT seems hell-bent on spending billions of dollars to widen I-70, it’s not too late to stop the project. If Governor John Hickenlooper says the word, the city can still escape unscathed from the state’s efforts to ram a super-wide below-grade highway through north Denver. Going through with the highway widening will have long-lasting consequences, saddling the … Continued
February 24, 2016