I-70

There are viable public transit options to get between Denver and the mountains.

The skiers and snowboarders who took the inaugural trip on Colorado’s express bus service to the Arapahoe Basin ski area faced long delays. But Snowstang officials say such problems will be rare in the future.

Greenhouse gas emissions from autos increased 102 percent in the Denver Metro over 1990 levels. The news comes one day before 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg will lead a Fridays for Future Strike in Denver.

Officials from the Colorado Department of Transportation showed off ideas to fix a dangerous, congested stretch of Interstate 25 that passes through Central Denver. Despite the agency’s recent announcement of a statewide “listening tour,” the highway agency has already ruled out the most progressive concept it considered: Tearing down the highway and replacing it with an urban boulevard.

As Colorado studies rail options along the congested I-25 corridor, experts say few would ride options slower than high-speed rail. But a well-funded anti-rail cabal is likely to defeat any push for bullet trains.

Colorado's economy could support and benefit from a $21 billion high-speed rail system, according to a 2010 report by the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority. The maps presented here come from that report. They offer initial sketches, not detailed plans.

Transportation officials launched a statewide listening tour that will give Coloradans the chance to sound off on where limited state transportation dollars should be spent. But even in the heavily car-dependent Centennial State, officials at the state’s highway agency say they want to talk about walking, biking and transit.

This is a special edition to our series of interviews with candidates for Denver mayor in the May 2019 municipal election.

Why is Denver still expanding I-70? The move to tear down I-980 in Oakland shows that forward-thinking officials elsewhere get it: The problems associated with mega-motorways in urban neighborhoods outweigh the benefits.