It's Not Too Late to Kill I-70 Project, Expert Says

Westword ^ | April 12, 2019 | Michael Roberts

[Teacher317]

[Teacher317]

Ben Crowther, a transportation fellow with the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Congress for the New Urbanism and overseer of the organization's 2019 "Freeways Without Futures" study that included I-70, emphasizes that "it's never too late to stop a highway project."
Indeed, Crowther reveals, "I have tracked 37 different examples of highway projects that were being built through urban environments that strong community opposition eventually halted." These findings are compiled in a separate CNU offering, "Never Too Late to Stop the Bulldozer."

It stuns me how many people exist purely to try to stop projects of any kind.

Notice that they don't give any reason to stop them... just that they must be stopped.

[sphinx]

I've not been in Denver for years and last drove I-70 that far west … well, Khal Drogo was still roaming the Great Plains. That said, interstate highways (and other big arterial roads) are ugly, noisy, dangerous, dirty and degrade the areas through which they pass. Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, not enough was done to mitigate these effects in the early decades of interstate construction. In addition, the early planners did not adequately assess the tendency of interstates to generate awful sprawl along their corridors. Without careful planning, they create a lot of problems. These are magnified considerably when an interstate runs through an already developed area.

So what to do? We need the interstates and they sometimes need to be renewed, expanded and modernized. I'm not suggesting that we wave a magic wand and make them go away. BUT: we should be prepared to spend what it takes to mitigate neighborhood impacts and carefully plan interstate driven sprawl. These costs should be factored into the cost of the road. The roadbuilding lobby tends to think it should be able to spend every penny on road construction and that mitigation is a luxury item to be paid for in the sweet bye and bye, preferably by someone else. That gets in backwards.

If I had a magic wand to wave, I'd require all urban interstates to run through tunnels. Maybe when AOC is president and everything becomes free, we could do this. Until then, I presume this would be prohibitively expensive.

Noise mitigation is important. So is landscaping. What this will mean will depend on the neighborhood. The interstate should not be allowed to severely disrupt the regular street grid for local traffic. This implies frequent crossing points. I don't care whether the interstate is elevated with an underpass every couple of blocks, or alternatively, the builders pay for frequent overpasses for cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Just make sure it gets done. The interstate must not be allowed to become a barrier. Expensive, yes, but if you aren't willing to pay the freight, keep your hands off other people's neighborhoods.

[PrairieLady2]

No kidding! Deathtrap is almost an understatement. Everyone wants to drive 80mph while maintaing 2 feet of space between cars, because they’re afraid someone might sneak in front of them if they utilized a safe distance formula.

And then, the trip between Fort Collins in denver is hirrid. It’s 2 lane that opens to 4 lane, then closes back to 2 lane thru the city...still running 80mph.

That speed is NOT an exaggeration. And if that’s not enough, cars in the southbound lane slow down to a 10mph crawl for an accident in the northbound lane. It’s crazy!

There are almost always 4-5 accidents on either lane or both every day at rush hour.

If you aren’t super familiar with the area, the road signs aren’t much help. They’re unclear and confusing.

I70 isn’t as bad in terms of signs. 470 is helpful but tje toll to take that 17 mile stretch around the city is unforgiving. It’s over 30 bux and who can afford that twice a day if you have to commute daily?

Something has to change and if a stacked spaghetti bowl of highways is what it takes, then do it because the current mess is very unsafe, expensive and time consuming. As long as it doesn’t involve tolls.

[Bonemaker]

Between Denver and the Springs on 25 is always a thrill.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

A good roundabout will have a wide inside shoulder, usually paved with concrete or pavers, that is known as a truck apron. Large vehicles and commercial carriers can roll over the apron to maneuver through the roundabout.

[Fraxinus]

Obviously you have never driven in DC. Roundabouts here often seem to have a proliferation of lights.

As said elsewhere done properly roundabouts can be quite useful as long as the traffic is within certain parameters. Although the use of them to slow traffic is not a selling point for most drivers.

[Tucker39]

Out here in flyover country we have a few roundabouts here and there and they work well. For instance U.S. Rte. 30 is a medium-heavy east-west artery, and even through towns, including New Oxford and Gettysburg the traffic, including many 18-wheelers flows smoothly. I can’t imagine what mental defect would cause the use of roundabouts WITH traffic lights. Assinine overkill.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Report: Expanding I-70, One of Nation’s Worst Urban Freeways, Is out of Step With Polis’ Goals (4/3)