OFFICIAL I70 BITCH THREAD....

[SkiBall]

No, they're limited in the number of days it's open, so they don't waste those on traffic-light Friday afternoons.

What is the reasoning that it is limited? Enforcement? Monitoring? At face value it would appear best to have open anytime there is a fair amount of westbound traffic to open traffic up a little and collect some revenue. Sometimes there is more than meets the eye which would seem to be the case.

[concretejungle]

It's not a "real" lane.

[SkiBall]

Cogito ergo sum.
It's real enough. We weathered all that construction for an occasional use? Should have just fixed the bridge.

[hatchgreenchile]

Very interesting read. I didn't realize there were that many issues with Floyd Hill.

25 billion to get the entire states infrastructure up to par, I would have thought it be quite a bit more. It will not get cheaper, the sooner ground is broke, the better.

[ski-wpk]

Good read. Sounds like no real relief in sight.

[Danno]

What is the reasoning that it is limited? Enforcement? Monitoring? At face value it would appear best to have open anytime there is a fair amount of westbound traffic to open traffic up a little and collect some revenue. Sometimes there is more than meets the eye which would seem to be the case.

It has something to do with federal highway standards, I think.

[The SnowShow]

Can i-70s mountain corridor ever be fixed

EDIT: Having finished the article now I think this should be required reading for anyone who wants to post in this thread.

Very interesting read, thanks. Depressing as well.

[stfu&gbtw]

Hysterical that anyone thinks the takeaway from that article is that "it can't be done". Only in CO. We should have our own edition of Bob the Builder, just for the Native kids... "Can we fix it? Fuck no!"

From the article:

The department barely has enough money to keep its existing system going, Bhatt says, much less remedy a long list of pricey problems. So what exactly is the deficit? To address all statewide transportation infrastructure needs, CDOT says it would require approximately $25 billion.

Coloradans themselves are chiefly to blame for the funding shortfall. The state’s residents voted for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1992, a constitutional amendment that hamstrings government spending on infrastructure; they tend to loathe tolls; and they haven’t voted to raise the state’s gas tax in more than 25 years. A majority of states tax their gas at rates higher than Colorado.

Spoke at a public meeting recently on rural infrastructure development and listened to citizen after citizen stand up to decry CO's lack of infrastructure... Internet, private transportation, public transportation, schools, you name it. I pointed out to the audience that there were several committees working on proposals to address all those issues. But as none of those proposals could come close to being funded on existing revenue, everyone should expect to see measures turning up on their ballots proposing tax increases to pay for the improvements... And if they really wanted those improvements, it was their responsibility not only to vote for those measures, but to actively work toward building public support for them in their communities. It got awfully quiet after that.

Once again, the beauty of democracy is we will always get the government we deserve.

[Danno]

Holy shit, I agree with stfu on this.

The only thing stopping this stuff is "our" unwillingness to fund it.

[ASmileyFace]

All you have to do is convince the Colorado voters that it's something worth approving. Sounds like a tough sell to the many who don't deal with the I-70 issue regularly enough to care.

[Danno]

All you have to do is convince the Colorado voters that it's something worth approving. Sounds like a tough sell to the many who don't deal with the I-70 issue regularly enough to care.

Except it's not just I-70, that's just what this article focused on. Our infrastructure needs a lot all over the state. Moreover, the I-70 corridor has huge economic implications statewide.

[goldengatestinx]

The lanes in the section with the express lane are narrower than fed standards allow for a highway to run 365. Therefore there's a special permit only allowing the toll lane to be open 75 days per year.

And not during storms.

It's a fucked up deal. $26 million for less than 3 minute improvement.

And CDOT crows about success. Morons. And moron public for believing the toll lane is a huge improvement.

People don't understand that if things are made too nice and easy then more morons move in. Fight against improvements including broadband in the foothills. If anyone can connect easily and cheaply the morons infect every square mile.

[fastfred]

Can i-70s mountain corridor ever be fixed

EDIT: Having finished the article now I think this should be required reading for anyone who wants to post in this thread.

ok 5280 sucks balls as a magazine, it's filled with so much bullshit I quit reading it years ago, the artical sucks too

typical front range mentality, they mention the 144 mile mountain corridor, but only drive up to the tunnel and turn around, the mountains start and end in summit, sometimes they go to eagle county, but the average metro resident doesn't know or care about anything beyond that

the guy they profiled needs to loose his job, he's a waste of tax payer money, fire him and hire three guys to actually do something other than rub cream into hinkeloopers ass warts

typical cdot, all they do is talk about technology but god forbid they actually go out and fill pot holes, they are more into wasting money on fake technology such as cars talking to each other and they spend millions on huge electronic signs that never get used other than (most recently) telling people to ride a tax payer funded empty bus to the ski resort, again pot holes anyone? how well did their bus to the ski hill thing go over? no one is slapping each other on the back because no one rode it

This first class fuck up they interviewed needs to get his head out of his ass, the construction season in the mtns is so short, and the cdot budget doesn't reset until july 1st, so contractors have no incentive to get going on a road project as early as they can because they will not see a check until after july 1st. So they milk a few good months of work until the money starts flowing and then winter is here. Figure out how to pay contractors asap and get work going as soon as weather permits

Cdot droped the bomb with their frisco to breckenridge project, they left the road in such disrepair and in such a mess that there have been multiple head on accidents this winter in the two pinch points along the highway. At one point there was two inches of ice on the road because no one considered drainage and melting snow. Cdot could care less, it's just mountain driving conditions right? It's the short construction season right? How many excuses can they pull out of their ass. People should be loosing their jobs because of this, but nothing like a good goverment job where you can kill and maim people get a slap on the wrist.

end of rant, by the way 5280 magazine sucks balls unless your a fifty year old yuppie living in a high rise in denver, then it might make sense and for good reading

[The SnowShow]

All you have to do is convince the Colorado voters that it's something worth approving. Sounds like a tough sell to the many who don't deal with the I-70 issue regularly enough to care.

This. It's also hard to convince people who already lose 10-40% of their paycheck to the govt, to pay more. However it needs to happen. A toll seems like low hanging fruit unfortunately.

[Name Redacted]

Problem overall is, we don't live in an age of big infrastructure projects like what went on in the 50's 60's and 70's. We are at a point where all our money needs to go towards just maintaining what we built back then. To get I70 expanded, 285 expanded, tunnels, etc... It would take something on the scale of what it originally took to build these highways. That ain't gonna get funded by our current tax system or tolls.

Maybe when Trump is done building his wall, maybe he can help CO out....

[goldenboy]

fifty year old yuppie

It was a good article.

And the yu in yuppie stands for young- either "young upwardly mobile" or "young urban professional", depending on who you ask. So there is no such thing as a 50 year old yuppie. FYI

[Danno]

Fuck, does that mean I have only 9 more months of yuppiedom? Or has it already passed me by? What does that make me, other than old?

[SkiBall]

Historically we haven't voted for the measures. That is not to say the influx of people to CO may be a little more willing (not holding my breath). Or with the drastic increase in traffic we have seen of late, if the only answer for relief is improving the infrastructure, then maybe enough people will be willing to get it to pass. Add a few cents to gas for fucks sake.
And express lane too narrow? Was that a pre-planned brain fart? Either way that pisses me off. And if that is the standard for how money is spent, we will never get support and rightly so.

[bendtheski]

I don't think the issue is the width of the express lane, it's the lack of a break-down lane for a 12mi stretch of roadway that is highly prone to congestion, accidents, and breakdowns.

The has been a recurring concern (how to access injury accidents, stalled vehicles, where to pull over drunks and road ragers).

What's mind boggling to me is that none of these conversations between cdot and local public safety officials took place until after the PPSL was built and about to open.

[hatchgreenchile]

This. It's also hard to convince people who already lose 10-40% of their paycheck to the govt, to pay more. However it needs to happen. A toll seems like low hanging fruit unfortunately.

Even if you hit everyone through the tunnel with a $20 toll, it wouldn't dent the cost.

We'd need federal assistance to pull it off, and infrastructure improvement hasn't been a nationwide priority for decades.

[Danno]

Re the express lane, I am pretty sure they knew all that going in. I am not saying it was the right thing to do or even a reasonable thing to do, I'll let you dentists argue that. But I am pretty damn sure there wasn't money to build a full-fledged permanent 3rd lane, so the choice was do nothing or do this half-assed stopgap measure. They chose option b, and honestly, it does seem to sorta work in that the biggest backups now don't seem to be located in that stretch. But maybe it doesn't; again, the dentists know best. But from what I understand, arguing that they should have just built a full lane is silly, because that wasn't really on the table.

[Name Redacted]

Aggressive measures: Raise a toll on the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel $20, raise Gas Tax 50 cents or a full $1 per gal! Tax all vehicles in the state for mileage.

OR apologize to the Olympic committee people and start bidding for the Olympics again.

One of two way that we can dig our way out of this pain cave.

[SkiBall]

Doesn't fix tunnel chokepoint though.

[stfu&gbtw]

CDOT says there's $25B required for upgrades to address current forecasts through 2035 or something. That seems unrealistically conservative. I'm still of the opinion that 4 track rail stands between here and any long term viability for Denver as a real city. Anyone know where we stand on the hyperloop pilot project selection process? The long term version of the future in which CO becomes and sustains itself as a globally significant marketplace involves tiered rail service from Pueblo to Grand Junction.

[simple]

Once again I'll say it. The feds aren't going to loan us tens of billions to fund a road for tourists and front rangers to get to the mountains easier.

We need a population decrease. Any ideas on how to pull that off?