I70 Expansion investigation (Denver: low income, appointed, sales)

[Tim Tim Tim]

Feds launch civil rights investigation into I-70 expansion project through Denver – The Denver Post

Im not out there in Denver yet, so I can't really form an opinion but based on this article and other minor google searches. it sounds as though they are planning to widen the road, lower some of it below ground and putting 4 acres of grass/land above it.

What I don't get is that people complain about traffic then fight anything that is done to help relieve traffic.

Thoughts?

Edit: adding link to visuals of what covered area may look like:
http://www.i-70east.com/viz_pa-p1_Pa...s.html#visuals

[bluescreen73]

Something needs to be done about I-70 through that area, but IMNSHO the re-route isn't practical and burying the road below grade is a gigantic waste of money.

Those neighborhoods have been blighted for decades and will continue to be that way until/unless the dog food plant and all the industrial strip malls disappear. Burying the viaduct isn't gonna magically change that.

[Timmyy]

If you want to complain about a freeway being expanded then C470 is the one. They are adding a toll lane which will be pretty much useless in my opinion.

[davebarnes]

CDoT wants to build, baby, build. They are responding to the demands of the commuters in greater Denver and to the concrete lobby.
Certain Denver neighborhoods' (Elyria-Swansea, Globeville, Sunnyside, Berkeley) residents want I-70 to disappear from their neighborhoods.

CDoT has proposed widening and lowering a section of I-70.
They will cut into E-S and Globeville on the north because they promised Purina they would not go south as Purina threatened to leave town if CDoT did.

The opposition wants I-70 rerouted to I-270 + I-76 and have the current section of I-70 abandoned so the neighborhoods can reunite as they were before 1965.
Various groups have initiated 3 lawsuits to stop the expansion. So far, they are neither winning nor losing. But, they are delaying the project. They did raise $31K this week. The fight will go on. More at http://unitenorthmetrodenver.com

[SQL]

I had heard that the entire point of lowering I-70 below ground was to connect those communities rather than having a giant concrete wall separating them. A lot of I-25 is built this way.

I'd like to see some of the main artery surface roads expanded and made into highways (45 MPH+; more roads like Havana that run East/West). That's where some of the real congestion issues derive from IMO. But that's likely just a pipe dream. I think we're just going to have to get used to 30 minute-plus commutes when you're travelling any more than five miles across town. The road infrastructure is terrible in this city, and that will likely not change for several decades, if at all.

[MN_Ski]

I drive from Tower and Colfax to downtown every evening for work.

I was experimenting with different commutes and I was amazed by how inconvenient the side streets are along 70.

I found that if I take 70 to the Central Park exit, take that to Smith Road, I can ride Smith all the way down to York/Joesphine, and hop back onto 70 right where the traffic starts to let up. I can save about 5-10 mins when the traffic is really bad.

Overall though, I have been disappointed with traffic lately. Over the summer my commute was about 45 min to 1 hour. Then when September came, my commute dropped down to 30-35 mins every day for about 2 months. Since the first week of November, my commute has been 45-50 mins every day with nothing less. It almost seems like the first of the month always has the worst traffic (a few more thousand cars getting injected on the road ways when people move in). I can't figure out why. It's not like there has been any construction.

[abcdefg567]

I think that one of the issues for the people who live there, is that they (and others) have felt that they have experienced an ongoing environmental justice violation. CDOT has a page listing what environmental justice is, the law, and a small blurb on the neighborhoods. https://www.codot.gov/business/civil...ity/titlevi/ej

The issue isn't new, it has been going on for decades, any solution besides removing the highway would probably face opposition from the local activists and community members.

The people who experience the problems aren't the ones complaining about the traffic, and then complaining about new measures for the most part. These are mostly very low income and minority residents who have been living in the area for years, perhaps generations. These people don't just have the highway to contend with, but the other air quality reducing issues in the area, contamination issues, and economic issues. In some ways, it is really sad because their families may not be able to find affordable housing elsewhere in the city at this point, but also because many most likely live in the homes that their grandparents (or great) did and have a network of family ties and history.

[Tim Tim Tim]

Maybe they should just make it a double decker. double the throughput of the road without having to widen it at all and everyone can keep their homes

They actually have an expressway here in Tampa that they build a raised center span that is 4 lanes wide, it is single direction but changes directions for traffic hours (morning it goes towards the city, afternoon it goes away). It actually works very well and didnt require any widening or additional land use. Dont think this would work for an interstate of the size here but maybe a variant of the concept.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publication...ages/stru6.jpg

[LHS79]

Look at the new toll lanes north of Denver on I25 to see how that was a bad idea.


Now the lanes are clogged except for the toll lanes (that hardly anyone uses).

[SQL]

Originally Posted by LHS79

Look at the new toll lanes north of Denver on I25 to see how that was a bad idea.


Now the lanes are clogged except for the toll lanes (that hardly anyone uses).

Toll lanes are a farce. We pay taxes on top of taxes for basic infrastructure needs. You'd think that with all this new revenue from pot sales and new residents that they could figure out how to do this more cost effectively for residents.