The Interregional Connectivity Study Finally has a Website

There is very little on it but it is there under projects: http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/ICS. From it you can get to a comment form, downloads of the information presented at the public meetings, and the AGS Study website.

I encourage everyone to comment, and then share their comments widely. The residents of Colorado need to make sure that we have a transportation plan that works for us.

Bert Melcher Shares His Ideas on Highways vs. Transit

Ten years ago, a coalition of citizen's groups came together to fight the widening of I-70 in the mountains. The result of their efforts was the Collaborative Effort which brought together various stakeholders in the mountains to come to an agreement. Bert Melcher represented the Sierra Club for many years as a part of that group. They decided that rail was the best choice to solve transportation problems in the mountains and an agreement was signed that CDOT would not add any capacity to I-70 until a rail study was done.

It does not seem that CDOT is taking that agreement very seriously. Here are some comments that Bert sent to me:

Here are reasons why something must be done. 

For decades there has been no integration of highways and transit/rail with a few recent exceptions including T-Rex I-27 South, US 36 and now I-225 from Nine Mile connecting to RTD East line to DIA,  and our primary concern now, I-70 Mountain rail to DIA.  This latter has been forced on agencies by the Collaborate Efforts Panel’s decision and formal Agreement that is embodied in the Record of Decision of the Final PEIS.

 Other than that, the “Silo” phenomenon has prevailed at all levels of government: each agency is a silo not connected to others.  Some of this is due to the resistance of roadbuilders/oil/auto industrial opposition and influence regarding non-automotive mobility, of course.

The FasTracks DUS-DTA EIS was initially performed in a joint CDOT-RTD planning study, but the two agencies separated after it became evident that both planning and potential construction face different timetables.   Even though the Mountain PEIS was underway, no consideration of mountain rail east of C-470 or DIA-DUS travel.   Silos.  This prevailed even after the Mountain PEIS was revised after the 2004 Draft to include rail but citizen objections about the C-470 eastern terminus of the PEIS.  Hence, a missed opportunity for proper planning.

CDOT really violated good planning practice and compliance with NEPA law in the Final PEIS commenced in 2009-2010.  Citizens advised CDOT not to continue the “segmenting” of the project into two parts, the west [art and the east C-470 to DIA part.  Segmenting is illegal, but CDOT ignored that.   CDOT decided to defer the east part to future studies.

The future studies are now underway and are called the  “AGS” hardware/location study with C-470 as the formal eastern terminus and the InterConnection Study (“ICS”) on the Metro area linkage to the C-470 terminus.  The two studies are concurrent and somewhat tied together (they should logically been one study.)  It appears that the AGS study will pay attention to extension of rail into the metro area and to the DIA. 

The concept of getting rail passengers to the C-470 area terminus via RTD and auto connections prevailed over 15 tears ago and still is around.  I believe that the mountain agencies and people have no concept of the many and severe confronting RTD, and of RTD’s head-in-the-sand attitude about J-70 and rail.    I sent a longer discussion of this about two weeks ago.  The HUD “Sustainable Communities” study on the three RTD routes  (East, Gold and Metro North) could but probably won’t consider any joint or integrated planning.

The bottom line:  One of the possible AGS routes from DIA would be the I-270/I-76 corridor, with possible stations at the RTD Metro North and Gold lines.  Inasmuch as the Swansea route of the elevated highway should be moved to the same corridor, why not integrate highway and rail studies?  To paraphrase President Reagan: “Governor Hickenlooper, tear down those silos.”

Diana DeGette is Hosting an I-70 Meeting

Monday, July 30, 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Focus Points Family Center
2501 E. 48th Avenue
Denver
Bus: 48
Also within waking distance of the 24.
RSVP by Friday, July 27 to 303-844-4988 or Tricia.Stevens@mail.house.gov

I assume that this meeting is about widening I-70 within Denver. I would invite anyone who attends this meeting to mention the other two plans to widen the highway. We need to start connecting all these different projects along with how much they are going to cost.

Is FasTracks Money Being Used to Fund Highway Expansion?

I don't know that it is. The US 36 project is going to cost $312 million which is not unreasonable. However, I only got the notice of these open houses this afternoon.

Perhaps we will have the opportunity to find out. Starting today, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Ames Granite are holding a series of open houses about construction on US 36 that includes adding an HOV/ BRT lane and a commuter bikeway between Federal and 88th Street. All meetings are from 6:30 to 8:30. There are no presentations, so people can come any time.

Wednesday, July 25
Broomfield High School, Auditorium
1 Eagle Way
Bus: Broomfield Call-n-Ride which must confirm will pick you up on its last run which is at 7 pm. Call 303-434-8989 to reserve.

Thursday, July 26
Hidden Lake High School, Media Room
7300 Lowell Boulevard
Westminster
Bus: 72 although you have to leave before 7:30 if you live east of here.

Wednesday, August 8
West Boulder Senior Center, Creekside Room
909 Arapahoe Avenue
Bus: JUMP
The 204, 205P, 225, DASH, SKIP, AB, all B regional buses run during these times.

It is no surprise that the Boulder meeting is the only one with decent advance notice. Thank you to whoever in city or county staff or local activist who is making sure that people in Boulder can actually be informed. I am going to be traveling from Lakewood to go to that session.

Social Action for Transit is Meeting in Globeville

Sunday, July 29 at 2 pm (We will be there by 1:30, if not earlier.)
Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral
349 E. 47th Avenue
Denver

Bus: This location is a ten minute walk from both the 8 and the 12. I would like to be closer to the bus, but I love being in the middle of the neighborhood that we are reaching out to. If you are taking the bus, you will probably get to the church around 1:45, and we will have snacks and social time before the start of the actual meeting. You can call 720-980-3408 on the day if you have trouble finding us.

We will be discussing the costs, both monetary and to our society, of widening highways, and how we can better use this money. We will also have reports about rail planning and FasTracks with reports on the efforts of other organizations. In particular, we will talk about efforts to oppose the widening of I-70, getting a rail station in Globeville, and connecting Five Points to the DIA line.

And, as always, snacks will be provided.

Another Place to Buy Bus Passes

The Hub has opened in Stapleton in east Denver. You can do a lot of things at The Hub, including buy bus passes. Hopefully, you can buy bus ticket books as well.

Other services of the The Hub include a bicycle repair and rental shop, car share registration, and a cop shop. Cop shops are staffed by community volunteers, but police officers do check in regularly. No word as to whether the volunteers will do anything about police harassment of bus riders.

Curious about Rail along the Front Range?

If so, there are open houses to inform people about the rail study that CDOT is conducting about possibilities for rail along the Front Range and to connect mountain rail to the Denver metro area. Each open house starts at 4 pm and ends at 7 pm with a thirty minute presentation that is shown twice, once at 4:30 and once at 6 pm.

Monday, July 16
Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments
15 S. Seventh Street, Colorado Springs
Bus: None (Maybe walkable from the 4 for the first presentation.)

Tuesday, July 17
Pueblo Convention Center
310 Main Street
Bus: #1 Eastside (Walkable from several other buses that go downtown.)

Wednesday, July 18
Windsor Recreation Center
250 North 11th Street
(Windsor is half way between Fort Collins and Greeley.)
Bus: I doubt it.

Thursday, July 19
Regional CDOT Office in Golden
425 Corporate Circle
Bus: 17 for the first presentation

As always, bring your bullshit detector, and mention that conventional rail does pretty well.

In 2000, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), decided to widen I-70 to support the tourism industry. They would say that they wanted to widen the highway to relieve congestion, but usually widening a highway increases congestion. They would also have said that most people supported the highway widening, but somehow there was great public outcry against the highway people. Environmentalists did not want the destruction that highway widening would entail; local residents did not want there towns torn up; tax payers did not want their money wasted, and some people wanted buses and trains instead.

Between 2000 and 2004, citizens worked to stop the highway widening. This led to the creation of the Collaborative Effort which led to more planning, another PEIS, and an agreement that CDOT could only widen the road if other alternatives were seriously considered. So right now, a group of consultants is asking private industry how they would bring rail to the mountains. (This is the AGS study.) There is also going to be a study into bus service throughout Colorado that may lead to better service in the mountains.

So CDOT has signed an agreement to not widen the highway at least until the current mountain rail study has been completed.

So it is interesting that I just got a notice from CDOT that included these words: "widening the interstate".

CDOT is planning to widen I-70 between Idaho Springs and Floyd Hill including enlarging the eastbound bore of the Twin Tunnels. The purpose of the project is to improve traffic flow and address safety concerns even though improving traffic flow usually makes things more dangerous.

There is going to be a public meeting about this project at the end of July.

Twin Tunnels Environmental Assessment Public Hearing
Wednesday, July 25 at 5:30
Clear Creek County Schools District Office
320 State Highway 103
Idaho Springs, CO 80452

There will be an open house from 5:30 to 6:30, then an informational presentation with public comments starting at 7:00.

There will also be a comment period that will last from July 5 to August 4. Comments can be submitted to David Singer either via email (david.singer@dot.state.co.us) or by mail to Colorado Department of Transportation, 425C Corporate Circle, Golden, CO 80401.

According to someone who has been active with a local environmental group for many years, this project violates at least three federal laws, so hopefully citizens will look carefully at how their tax dollars are being spent.