A Critical Evaluation of Colorados Transportation Future:

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A Critical Evaluation of Colorados
Transportation Future Rail Beyond Metro Denver
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What is Colorados Major Transportation
Sustainability Problem? Unanimous Government
Response from FHWA/CDOT/Move Colorado/Ritter
Administration Not Enough Money!
Is this the real problem or perhaps just
a symptom of the problem?
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What about the Transportation Sustainability Probl
ems that CDOT the FHWA dont tell you -
Institutional DOT 1950/1960s Highway Culture
(i.e. Transportation Highways) DOT
Corresponding 21st Century Vision - Increasing
Automobile Dependency - Increasing Auto-Oriented
Development Sprawl - Increasing Vehicle
Miles Traveled (VMT) (VMT growth rate 20
Higher than Population Growth)
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Causing the Following Problems - Increasing
Congestion - Increasing Greenhouse Gas
Emissions, Global Climate Change Earlier
Snowmelt - Natural Resource Depletion (Peak Oil
Sooner) - Liquid Fuels Crisis just around the
corner - Increasing Energy Costs - Air Quality
Degradation - Water Quality Degradation -
Increasing Noise - Increasing Obesity Health
Impacts
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CDOT FHWA Institutional Flaws Resulting in A
Real Mess
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Governor Ritters Colorado Promise
Transportation We must always consider the
impact that transportation projects have on the
environment. We must design projects that
improve mobility, honor the environment and
protect the livability of adjacent communities.
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• Governor Ritters Colorado Promise
• New Energy Economy
• Leading Colorado Towards
• Self-Sufficiency
• Alternate Energy Promotion
• Cleaner ways of extracting and using fossil
  fuels
• - Rewarding Efficiency and Conservation

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Governor Ritters Colorado Promise Environment -
Protection of Water Quality - Protection of
Air Quality - Protection of Colorados
Wilderness areas, Waterways and Wildlife
habitats We also owe it to future generations
- generations of Coloradans we will never meet
to protect our natural resources, our water
supplies and our crisp mountain air.
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Governor Ritters Colorado Promise
Environment We must protect the quality of our
air with a greater emphasis on mass transit,
renewable energy, new clean coal technologies and
more thoughtful growth strategies. Protection
of water quality is essential to the health of
our citizens, the strength of our economy and the
preservation of our quality of life.
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Governor Ritters Colorado Promise New Energy
Economy Do Our Part to Reduce Global Warming
Trends We can no longer talk about energy
without acknowledging the effects of our energy
production and use on our environment. We are
not talking about just global warming we are
talking about local warming.
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CDOT FHWA Institutional Flaws Global Warming
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So How Does the I-70 mountain corridor fit into
the Colorado Promise?
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State Leaders Demand I-70 Highway Expansion!
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The Most Harmful Alternative
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The I-70 Mountain Corridor Programmatic Study
(PEIS) Flaws
The single most effective Impact Mitigation tool
is Avoidance of Impacts. Avoidance is the
selection of an improvement alternative that
mitigates mobility, economic, social, community,
historic, cultural and environmental impacts by
selecting the Least Harmful Alternative.
Impact Mitigation is relatively Meaningless if
the Most Harmful Alternative (Highway Expansion)
is selected.
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350,000 Denver Area Residents get their water
from Clear Creek I-70 runs adjacent to Clear
Creek for 29 miles in CCC CDOT is already
the Largest Water Polluter to Clear Creek in the
County - Sediment from Traction Sand -
Chemical De-Icer Run Off - Materials from
Vehicle Wear including Copper from brake
linings - Hazardous Material Spills from
Vehicle Incidents
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• CDOT is already the Largest Water Polluter to
• Clear Creek in the County
• Six Lane Highway Expansion will
• Increase Annual Traction Sand Application
• in CCC from 670 tons per mile to 1100 tons
• per mile
• Increase Annual Liquid De-Icer Application
• in CCC from 13,800 gallons per mile to 20,000
• gallons per mile

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• Horizontal Widening will Cause
• Extensive Disturbance to Clear Creek including
• possible relocation in sections
• Extensive Disturbance to Mine Works
• Tailings within CDOT R.O.W.
• - Extensive Disturbance to Mill Tailings
• within CDOT R.O.W.

High potential for heavy metals to enter the
creek and significantly degrade water quality for
Black Hawk, Golden, Coors Brewing, Westminster,
Thornton and Northglenn
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Construction Impacts
Draft PEIS Indicates 15 Years of Construction
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Construction Impacts
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Construction Impacts
There are no continuous frontage roads or good
alternate routes in the Mountain Corridor
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Construction Impacts
There is no room to support T-REX style
construction in the Mountain Corridor
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T-REX in the Mountains 15 Yrs of Gridlock!
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Construction Impacts
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A Six Lane I-70 will be just as vulnerable
to Bad Weather Poor Driver Behavior (Skiers
Casino Patrons) Accidents Avalanches Rockslides Su
n Glare Delays as a four lane I-70 and will
provide no option to these events, but to sit in
traffic and wait with everyone else.
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A Highway Expansion Alternative will Increase -
Vehicle Miles Traveled and Congestion - Highway
Travel Times - Accidents in Bad Weather - Road
Rage Incidents - Inefficient Energy Consumption-
Road Maintenance and Resurfacing Costs- Our
Reliance on the automobile for mobility
regardless of the escalating cost of vehicle
ownership and operation - Noise, Air, Water and
Visual Pollution - Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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A Highway Expansion Alternative will Increase -
Vehicle Animal Collisions - Impacts to Corridor
Historical Properties - Our Dependency on Foreign
Oil - Our Ignorance of World Peak Oil Production
(Natural Resource Depletion) - Our Ignorance
of the States Increasing Senior Population - Our
ignorance of Global Climate Change - Construction
Economic Impacts - Back Country Sprawl -
The Elimination of any Safe Travel Choice in the
corridor - The Violation of the Principles of
Environmental Justice - Overuse of our Public
Lands - Pressure to escalate Oil and Gas
Extraction in Colorado
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What will we leave to Colorados Future
Generations?
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Why should an alternative with these gross
impacts be the priority outcome of an
Environmental Impact Statement process?
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CDOT FHWA Highway Culture is Creating
Tomorrows Transportation Problems, Today
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CDOT FHWA Institutional Highway
Culture Flawed Vision for the 21st Century
Road or Rail?
Will CDOT FHWA Be Part of the Solution or Part
of the Problem?
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CDOT FHWA Institutional Flaws
Traffic Engineers traditionally describe any
increase in road or parking facility capacity as
an Improvement, although from many perspectives
it may represent Significant Degradation
(pedestrians, residents, aesthetics,
environmental quality)
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CDOT FHWA Institutional Flaws
Traffic modeling often ignores the tendency of
traffic congestion to maintain a self limiting
equilibrium