Tasked with maintaining 23,000 miles of highway, 3,500 bridges and the 35 mountain passes in the state that are open year-round, the Colorado Dept. of Transportation (CDOT) recently reached out to the public for help in creating a plan about how to spend an anticipated $1.7 billion in state funding over the next several years.

为了确定这些资金最明智的使用，CDOT官员花了五个月的时间通过电话市政厅，社区博览会和节日的摊位，在线调查和64次县会议来吸引居民。结果是CDOT根据“您的运输计划”创建的10年战略计划。18luck官网

“这是巨大的压力有关growth the state is seeing,” says Shoshana Lew, CDOT executive director. In a letter to stakeholders last May, she explained that instead of starting with the age-old question of “how do we pay for it?” the agency is asking “what challenges do we face as a community and what infrastructure investments will help solve them?”

Lew, most recently the COO of the Rhode Island Dept. of Transportation, says reframing the question has helped prioritize the agency’s investments to maximize the reach of taxpayer dollars and deliver transportation projects that move people and goods safely and efficiently throughout Colorado.

“This is in contrast to the agency’s previous plans, which focused on a 25-year future,” says Rebecca White, director of CDOT’s division of transportation development. “All Coloradans want a better road system, and looking out 10 years is more compelling.”

CDOTalso aims to provide transparency and accountability. “The amounts of money we deal with are very big, and unless you can explain in tangible English terms where the money is going, it can seem a bit evasive outside of our four walls,” Lew adds.

Playing Catch-Up

Nearly half of CDOT’s annual budget goes toward maintaining the state’s current highways and byways, with the goal of sustaining at least a C+ road surface grade. But Colorado has grown by 39% over the last 20 years and is projected to grow another 30% in the next 20. Most of that growth has occurred along the Front Range and in select mountain corridors. The state’s main arteries, especially I-25 and I-70, have become choke points as a result.

Meanwhile, some rural roads haven’t received a thorough repaving since the 1970s. An August 2019 report by the Reason Foundation showed that Colorado has slipped to 47th in the nation when it comes to the condition of its rural pavements.

多年的“您的运输计划”将把资金的75％集中在出行和安全项目上，其中25％的资金用于在农村道路上进行的首次投资，这是最近历史上最大的投资。18luck官网

尽管综合计划旨在全面确定该州的资产，但它也会增加过境通道，尤其是在人口老龄化的社区中，并继续增加过境功能，以实现沿着前范围的巨大增长。

CDOT CFO Jeffery Sudmeier说：“在17亿美元的立法资金中，有超过1.5亿美元用于过境，将近20％分配给农村地区的人行道项目。”18luck官网

沿着山区走廊，该计划优先考虑弗洛伊德山项目，这是I-70的一部分，该部分在周末全年散落，在滑雪季期间尤其是残酷的山坡开车。Lew说，CDOT将在未来几年内对该领域进行能力扩大。

Vail Pass（另一个瓶颈）也将被解决，该机构将考虑增加峰值肩车道，就像他们在此钥匙山脉动脉的其他繁忙伸展上所做的那样。这使CDOT可以在最繁忙的旅行时间在每个方向上开设额外的车道。

The very thing that makes the mountain corridor beautiful creates a “geometry problem” that is unique compared with other highway corridors, Lew says. “It’s a geologically complicated environment, and there’s just not space to build out.”

CDOThas ongoing discussions for alternative travel, which includes looking at smaller transit options in the shoulder lanes and adding ridesharing platforms, either on a fixed schedule or according to demand.

Bustang—CDOT’s intercity bus service—has been a popular transit option, with nearly full West Line buses going to specific mountain destinations. The service was put on hold at the end of March due to the state’s COVID-19 social-distancing mandate.

关键项目18luck官网解决增长

CDOTis working to maintain the continuity of its construction program, with $912 million in projects underway across the state in 2020. Construction began in 2018 and will be complete in 2022 on the $1.2-billion Central 70 megaproject.

The public-private partnership is reconstructing a 10-mile stretch of I-70 between I-25 and Chambers Road in east Denver. One new express lane is being added in each direction, an aging 56-year-old viaduct is being removed and the interstate will be lowered between Brighton and Colorado boulevards. A 4-acre park will be placed over a portion of the lowered interstate near an elementary school.

在丹佛（Denver）的南部，另一个大型项目是在纪念碑和城堡岩石之间的一条高速公路上漫长的高速公路上解决交通拥堵。这项耗资3.5亿美元的I-25 South Gap项目在2019年破土动工。它将在每个方向上将18英里的I-25从两条车道扩大到三个车道。

新车道将以特快车道的身份运行，使驾驶员可以选择减轻旅行时间的费用。该项目还扩大了肩膀，重建桥梁，增加了新的野生动植物交叉路口，并使用新的路面技术重新铺设道路。预期的完成是2022年。

Other key CDOT projects include the $300-million I-25 North Express Lanes project in Weld and Larimer counties and the $276-million C-470 Express Lanes Project, which widens 12.5 miles of C-470 between I-25 and Wadsworth Boulevard in southwest Denver.

The agency launched two other large projects in 2019: the $250-million I-25 North Express Lanes (Segment Six), which will reduce congestion for travelers in northern Colorado, and the $70-million I-70 Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane project, which builds a 12-mile tolled, peak-period shoulder lane, designed to keep freeway traffic flowing in Clear Creek County at peak travel times.

Partnering During a Pandemic

该机构正在进行的工作将是使科罗拉多州经济在未来几个月内保持发展的关键因素，即使该州受到冠状病毒大流行的速度受到严重打击。

“CDOT’s main contribution during any crisis—whether in a snowstorm or a pandemic—is keeping the roads open,” Lew says. “It’s crucial to maintain vital arteries for people who need to move critical services, and it’s incredibly important to move freight, with so many people relying on the goods being delivered.”

CDOT的智能运输系统（ITS）分支机构收集了提供旅行时间，速度，交通排队，拥塞和天气影响的数据。数据有助于实时，明智的交通和公路运营决策。最近，州长对Covid-19的创新工作组要求其团队提供有关交通量和高速公路事件的数据，以确定社会距离是否有效。

“Our data showed a significant decline in traffic volumes, incidents and congestion before, during and after the state and other public health officials issued orders for business closures, telecommuting and staying home,” says Bob Fifer, CDOT ITS branch manager.

CDOTalso has been instrumental in developing the state’s multi-industry construction guidance, which includes best practices for contractors.

“我们正在在工作场所做事，以智能工作，将船员散布出去。如果他们不能，那么我们将给他们PPE呼吸器和面具。” CDOT的首席工程师史蒂夫·哈雷森（Steve Harelson）说。

该指南还包括人们可能不会考虑建筑物的方案，例如在偏远地区工作，人们必须共享酒店房间和拼车。

“Contractors are sharing their plans with each other, and it has been heartwarming to see,” Harelson says. “We’re all in this together.”