Should CDOT add more lanes to I-25 in Denver?

DENVER (KDVR) — The I-25 hall is among the most-trafficked north-south highways west of the Mississippi River, and with Colorado’s booming inhabitants, the Colorado Division of Transportation has been finding out methods to enhance the hall that runs via Denver for a while.

The section of the freeway spanning Santa Fe to twentieth Avenue noticed roughly 261,000 vehicles per day in 2020 in keeping with CDOT. With extra congestion and a projected enhance in crashes by 15-20% by 2040, CDOT has provide you with three completely different suggestions to enhance visitors, security and mobility via that stretch.

A few of these suggestions embrace increasing the freeway by creating wider shoulders and including categorical and HOV lanes via the stretch. Advocates for communities that stay close to these stretches are actually pushing again on that concept.

A gaggle of native advocates within the Solar Valley neighborhood is looking on CDOT to scrap the I-25 central growth undertaking from the division’s 10-year plan, saying it’s going to have a disproportionate air pollution influence on the group and impact the standard of life.

“We’re actively discussing the state’s transportation wants with the general public, stakeholders and advocacy teams, native authorities and regional planners, and people discussions will inform the work CDOT proposes within the coming replace to our 10-year plan of strategic initiatives. We’ll proceed to have interaction with the general public as we verify our priorities for the approaching years after which dig into the small print of the initiatives within the plan.

“We very a lot respect the issues that stakeholders are elevating and imagine that each one potential initiatives — however particularly these traversing locations the place folks stay — have to be evaluated with a cautious eye in the direction of greenhouse gasoline emissions and environmental justice, as amplified by Senate Invoice 260 final 12 months. We thank our neighbors for making their voices heard and stay up for a candid dialogue about what works for this neighborhood.”

Shoshana Lew, CDOT Government Director

Resulting from technical difficulties, we are going to add the press convention as soon as it turns into obtainable.