I-70 mountain improvement study advances

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/ne...ess+Journal%29

The environmental impact statement considered and recommending a broad range of improvements to the corridor, including:

Is that English? I swear, there is no justice in the world.

Anyways... if the local communities will concede to this - "Six lanes from Floyd Hill through the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnel" - then I suppose I can accept a $15 billion train-to-nowhere.

Well, maybe this will be a better source ;)
http://coloradoindependent.com/91369...ill-years-away

That's what I thought. The DBJ is wrong. "Six lanes from Floyd Hill through the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnel." is NOT part of the plan. It should be, but it's not.

The cheapest way to improve the transportation efficientcy of I-70 to Vail is to toll all cars. Have a subsidized massive bus service (let see: if improving I-70 costs $5 billion, how about subsidizing bus service with the interest a $5 billion annuity would generate? Make the buses truly snow capable- hydraulic coupled all wheel drive, and, a small snow plow on front. They could go anywhere).

In addition, pro-rate the toll. Commuters all the way to Georgetown should not have to pay much if their vehicles have the correct license tags.
But tunnel users should pay through the nose.

Cheapest solution. Of course, very politically incorrect due to the monies involved LOL.

this was posted on another forum. streetcar from denver to golden-

• Video Link

crazy that we're spending billions to rebuild what we tore up 50 years ago.

Was that thing crossing a cattle guard? Awesome. Bet there's no trolley/cattle guard crossing drawing in RTD's book of standard details today.

nice...and we had 300 miles of streetcars back then...so sad.

Were the Denver Tramway Corporation fares tax subsidized? How do they compare with modern transit?

A) they were built without nearly the 'study' that our new lines needed.

B) they were simple, and, practical. At the time the US had a big street car support industry, so parts were literally off the shelf. Some street car companies built their OWN cars (the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company built GREAT cars).

C) people worked together more. The US, up until the middle 1950s was not nearly as litigacious as in the last 30 years, so infrastructural improvements could be built DESPITE objections. Besides, most were built before cars flooded the US, and, people encouraged street car lines because they were NEEDED. (Little of the intellectual debate over 'Green' etc., that we have now. The children of the bunch that made huge street car systems won WWII! People were used to getting things done then...)

In Chicago, in the 1910s, 3,000,000 riders per DAY!

Remember that Denver had 300 miles of street car lines and was a 3rd tier city, barely bigger than Omaha in the '20s.

weren't a lot of the street car lines built by developers moving into new areas? no different than developers today spending a couple million to build a parking garage. only there seems to be no mechanism now for developers to put their funds towards transit instead of parking.

good point...as i recall, the arced spur from south auraria to DUS was paid for by private money and took only a couple years....and MINIMAL studying.

Yes. Correct.

I suspect problems now in putting in light rail, commuter rail, or for that matter, interstates are likely the result of the splintering of property into small pieces within at least the inner rings of metro areas.

Real estate development used to be easy on a large scale. Start by splitting up a 100,000 acre ranch type of thing... And, cheap street cars on flimsy road beds connecting to brand new bustling factories worked in bringing in both european immigrants and domestic immigrants leaving 'the farm.'

Now, it's politics, and, deep pockets. Either you have money for a candidate or three or you 'own' property and can afford to pay the note and taxes for a decade or so, or you can't play the game.

That's the 'New' Real Estate world.

Denver to Westminister
 

Hello all. I was wondering if you fine folks could give me some insight on public transportation from Denver to Westminister. There is a chance that I could land a job in Westminister, which is great, but I really want to live in Denver. I've never really lived in a city before so I really want to experience that lifestyle. I researched a little bit of the FasTracks program, which seems awesome, but I was curious as to what the projected completion date (if there is one) of RTD connecting Westminister to Denver and any other developments. Thank you in advance!

Any idea where in Westminster you'd be working? Westy is pretty spread out. It could be the US 36 corridor, ir could be the north I-25 corridor, or it could be nowhere near either.

Here is a PDF map of the City of Westminster, if that helps: http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/file...nstermap08.pdf

Generally, rail connections are pretty far off, except the first segment on the Boulder line to 72nd Avenue, which will be done earlier (but you'd have to be pretty lucky to be working close to that). However, both highway corridors are extremely well served by express buses from Lower Downtown, US 36 on the Boulder line, and north I-25 by the frequent and fast 120X.

Hey, it looks like we're adding a lane to I-25 between 20th & Speer, and rebuilding the 15th Street bridge finally. Has anybody seen the bridge plans?

http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/I-2515thSt

I-25 near 15th Street

Project Overview

In late 2011 or early 2012, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will begin a safety and mobility improvement project on I-25 between approximately 20th Street and Speer Boulevard.  In addition, various vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle improvements will be made on Central Street, which the City and County of Denver is funding.  The $23 million project will continue through late 2013 or early 2014.

CDOT’s portion of the project will make the following improvements to I-25 and 15th Street:
Adds auxiliary lanes on southbound I-25 from just south of 20th Street to just south of Speer Boulevard to help eliminate the weaving at the on and off-ramps along I-25.
Replaces the 15th Street bridge over I-25 to accommodate auxiliary lanes on I-25, which allows for wider sidewalks on 15th Street.
Reconfigures the I-25 HOV/tolled Express Lane exit to provide for a longer merge lane into mainline traffic
Constructs sidewalk along Central Street between 15th Street and 16th Street, connecting to Denver’s portion of the project.

Denver’s portion of the project will make the following improvements to Central Street:
Constructs a 10-foot bicycle/pedestrian path from 16th Street to 20th Street
Adds additional on-street parking on the west side of Central Street north of the 17th Street curve
Installs enhanced signage for the bike route connection at 20th Street
Adds two-hour restricted parking signs along Central Street

It's great to hear that this is coming along! That onramp lane from 20th to southbound I-25 has always been a problem due to the short span of 15th. If you're coming down the ramp, it's a very short merge and no one likes to let people in. People coming down I-25 that are getting on Speer always get over too early, and end up having to merge back over. The real gem of this project is all of the 20th St. pedestrian/bicycle updates. There's always been a no man's land on the south east corner at 20th and Central. Bicyclists always get stuck there. It's possible that this may spur more development farther north on Central where there is still one semi-industrial dirt lot that has 4 foot weeds and sand blowing into the pedestrian walkway.

fast is the last word that comes to mind when describing the 120X, unless we are talking about the 7pm and later buses. If they ever get an HOV lane up to 144th or so, then it will be awesome to ride the bus downtown.

Fast is relative. If you live 15 miles outside the city, it's not reasonable to expect a 15 minute commute. Besides, a 21 minute (scheduled) bus from 120th to Market St. is very respectable.

That's beside the point though. Andyroo was talking about a reverse commute, so the HOVs are a non-factor. For him, I assume the suburban walk of shame from the bus drop off to his place of employment would be the pain, not the "long" 20 or 30 minute bus ride.