Colorado Department of Transportation

Photos: Road and lane closures, traffic alerts after yesterday's snowstorm

As longtime Coloradans know, the day after a storm is often as challenging from a driving perspective, if not more so, than when the snow is actually falling, because some people insist on believing that everything is back to normal even when road conditions are still deceptively crappy. With that i ... More >>

Photos: Blown forecast -- or a readjustment?

What qualifies as a blown forecast? Last month, no local weather pros foresaw a snowpacalypse for March 12 -- and when one developed, 9News staffers pelted good sport Marty Coniglio with snowballs. Cut to the past few days, when prognosticators predicted that morning rush would look like the graphic ... More >>

Videos: Colorado snowstorm -- the agony and the ecstasy

Each year, we're reminded that April is one of the snowiest months in Colorado, and each year, we're still surprised when lovely, temperate days are followed by big dumps o' white stuff like the one that slammed the state yesterday. A bad thing? Hell no. The gallery of photos below demonstrate the ... More >>

Videos: Epic snowstorm not exactly epic -- yet

Forecasters throughout the city spent much of yesterday readying Denverites for Snowpacalyse, Snowmagedon, Snowcastrophe, Snowlocaust -- hence, a rash of school closures announced last night rather than this morning. Yet thus far, in the metro area at least, the massive snow totals we were led to ex ... More >>

Too drunk to ride a motorcycle? If you're straddling a fencepost, you are

Denver blog posts take the high road...usually. Denver Egotist shares a new Colorado Department of Transportation campaign that warns motorcyclists, "If you've ever straddled a fencepost and said, 'Let's ride,' you definitely want to find a lift." Ed is Watching chronicles the Douglas County Schoo ... More >>

Drunk driving: How much does it cost to get a first DUI in Colorado?

Getting a DUI is expensive. Dan Beeck, who owns one of Colorado's biggest private probation companies, had that in mind when he started providing often-required alcohol education classes and therapy for cut-rate prices. But as explained in our cover story, "Blow Back," not everyone was thrilled with ... More >>

Taxi's Kyle Zeppelin wants to put the historic Dotsero Bridge in Denver

When the Colorado Department of Transportation put the historic Dotsero Bridge "up for adoption" in late April, the agency caught the attention of at least one person in Denver who just happens to be in the market for a cool bridge to span the South Platte River -- the subject of "Water World," this ... More >>

THC driving bill killed in plot that snuffed out civil unions measure

Last night, as One Colorado's Jace Woodrum noted during a talk with supporters, GOP leaders in the House sacrificed dozens of other measures in order to kill a civil unions bill. Prominent among them was the controversial THC driving bill, a version of which died last year. The result was a stunning ... More >>

I-70 viaduct built below ground could bury a north Denver feud

Don Hunt may be the hardest-working man at the State Capitol -- and that's saying a lot as the legislature heads into its final week. The head of the Department of Transportation helped pull the plug on a Beltway Authority proposal -- and now he could bury a feud that divided north Denver fifty year ... More >>

Reader: Head for the hills...and fu*k it up for everyone else

​It's Presidents Day weekend, one of the busiest times on Colorado slopes -- snow or no snow -- and so also one of the busiest times on I-70, where anticipated traffic put the brakes on the Colorado Department of Transportation's pace car concept. The jam inspired this addition to our Sh*t p ... More >>

Why Golden put the brakes on the Jefferson Parkway land swap

Despite the efforts of Governor John Hickenlooper and Don Hunt, the head of the Colorado Department of Transportation, the negotiations with Golden, Jefferson County and the group that would build the Jefferson Parkway wound up going nowhere...fast. In mid-December, Golden outlined a $57 million tra ... More >>

Reader: Honk if you support Ron Paul

​Last Friday morning, metro area highways were almost as crowded as a Republican presidential debate when supporters of Ron Paul unfurled banners, slowing traffic along the routes. And although the Colorado Department of Transportation says such advertisements are against the law, Paul propone ... More >>

CDOT is looking for help with an I-70 phone app

Med. marijuana laws = 9 percent traffic-death decline, 5 percent beer-sales dip, study finds

The subject of driving under the influence of marijuana has been much debated in these parts. A bill to set a THC driving limit was shelved in May, shortly before an HDNet report demonstrated pot-related driving impairment -- and in August, the Colorado Department of Transportation launched a drugge ... More >>

Reader: Ecoterrorists will be all over "Over the River"

​It's not quite a wrap, but when the Bureau of Land Management announced that it had approved Christo's "Over the River," the art installation proposed for a 42-mile stretch of the Arkansas River in southern Colorado cleared yet another hurdle.

I-70 pace cars: The latest un-American development that needs to stop

Flickr​The Colorado Department of Transportation has approved police "pace-cars" for Sundays in January to improve the flow of ski traffic on I-70. Let's forget the logistics and the arguments about whether a police car driving at a steady rate while flashing its light will actually "harmonize ... More >>

R U Buzzed? The drunk-o-meter iPhone app comes to Android...and in Spanish!

Drug enforcement checkpoint on I-25: Five tickets, two arrests out of 32 stops

​Update:On August 9, the Westminster Police Department manned a "DRUG ENFORCEMENT CHECKPOINT" on I-25. Last week, WPD Investigator Trevor Materasso confirmed the operation, but didn't have many details. Now, however, he's able to provide the specifics. Officers issued tickets or made arrests i ... More >>

Drugged driving campaign targets medical marijuana patients who drive stoned

Posters below.​Update below: Against the backdrop of the Westminster Police's drug enforcement checkpoint and a ten-year reckless homicide sentence for "self-medicating" Joshua Wittig, the Colorado Department of Transportation is today launching a drugged-driving campaign. And a CDOT spokeswom ... More >>

Colorado highway signs warn of recreation dangers ahead: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario

​ The Fourth of July holiday is the official start of the weekend warrior/mountain madness season. Considering all of the inherent recreation dangers possible, the Colorado Department of Transportation should place signs on state highways to warn residents and visitors about the hazards of hav ... More >>

The apocalypse will kick off in Boulder, and here's why

Tweet Psych reveals the secret intentions of some of Denver's biggest people and places

​Tweet Psych uses keyword algorithms to create psychological profiles of anyone with a Twitter account. Lady Gaga, for example, evidently tweets about sex 681% more than the average person. We have our doubts as to the usefulness of this thing beyond gimmickry, but what a fun gimmick it is. J ... More >>

Snowplows seen in Denver metro during fifty-minute commute this morning: Zero

​Watch local TV news and you'd be under the impression that snowplows are everywhere this morning -- but I sure as hell can't confirm it. I left my home in the Ken-Caryl Ranch area at 5:15 a.m. this morning, and by the time I slid into the parking lot at Westword's 969 Broadway HQ at 6:05 a.m. ... More >>

Vail pass wildlife crossing collides with state budget: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario

Full comic below.​For wildlife, Interstate 70 is the forage-lined kill zone that bisects Colorado. Last June, the ARC-International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition invited architects, engineers and ecologists to create the next generation of animal overpass for the top of W ... More >>

West Vail Pass wildlife bridge: Will design contest help save endangered animals?

​An international competition to design a special wildlife bridge for West Vail Pass has announced five finalists for the $40,000 grand prize -- two teams from New York and one each from Toronto, Philadelphia and Amsterdam. But local bridge builders shouldn't call foul. Each team is required ... More >>

Graffiti bombs add grooviness to the 20th Street bridge: Kenny Be's Sign Language

White-lined lane arrows point to high design.​ The 20th Street bridge connects the ultra-hip Highland neighborhood directly to the Denver Skate Park. Every street sign between Central and Little Raven Streets has become a canvas for the pedestrian designers who seem to be sending secret messag ... More >>

Do you have what it takes to design a wildlife bridge?

Center for Native EcosystemsA coyote waits for the "walk" sign on Vail Pass.​Friend, do you consider yourself both gifted and green? Do coworkers refer to you, without a hint of mockery, as some kind of ecogenius? Do you spend time wondering not why the doe crosses the road, but how the hell ... More >>

Morons drive cars, according to new CDOT campaign for motorcycle safety

​People who drive cars are morons. Just ask the Colorado Department of Transportation.

RU-Buzzed? or are you going to get a DUI?

​There were a lot of new iPhones opened on Christmas Day, and that was a big present for the Colorado Department of Transportation, which created its own iPhone application in November to help people measure whether they are too drunk to drive.

RU buzzed? There's an app for that.

Texting while driving: Death trumps laughs

To spread the word about the new ban on texting while driving, the Colorado Department of Transportation held a contest that encouraged high schoolers to create put-down-your-damn-cellphone public-service announcements. And surprise, surprise: While several of the runner-up entries on view below u ... More >>

New site studies why (and where) wildlife cross the road

A black bear uses a culvert to cross under I-70. Photo courtesy Center for Native Ecosystems.​A newly launched website allows Colorado motorists to log on and report sightings of wildlife along the I-70 corridor between Golden and Glenwood Springs. While handy for alerting highway maintenance ... More >>

New website charts what parts of Colorado are being stimulated

A photo from the StimulusColorado.org website. StimulusColorado.org, a new website co-sponsored by Associated General Contractors of Colorado, the Colorado Association of Mechanical and Plumbing Contractors, Colorado Contractors Association, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Denver ... More >>

Shmuck: Dave Schultheis

Eighty Latinos died in traffic accidents in Colorado in 2008, or roughly one quarter of the total number of people who were killed in car crashes. Of the eighty, 59 were unbuckled. So it made sense for the Colorado Department of Transportation to -- for the first time ever -- run a TV advertise ... More >>

Local officials totally unprepared for bad road conditions -- again

Panel tries to convince Coloradans that the state has a transportation problem

A Multi Modal Solution to I-70 Congestion

I-70, Again

I-70 Viaduct Might Get Rerouted Through Stock Show

Better Fed Than Dead

Taking a walk on the wild side.

Best Highway Beautification Project

"Currents and Eddies"

Martha Daniels

Pop Quiz

Heard Words
December 4, 2003

Best Internet Traffic Monitor

www.denvergov.org/traffic

Strange but True

Plutonium lasts forever, but the radioactive fallout from 2002 should be mercifully brief. Don your Rocky Flats moonsuits and jump in!

Add It Up

Sport utility vehicles aren't as safe as you think.

Sporting Chance

There's no safety in numbers for SUVs.

Born and Razed

Nick Mystrom has to finish building a duplex so that the state can tear it down.

Off Limits

A public service announcement from Westword...

Off Limits

THREE ACRES AND A DUELWILL THE STATE LOSE OUT ON A PRIME REAL ESTATE DEAL IN SUMMIT COUNTY?