Colorado Department of Transportation

I-70 Viaduct Might Get Rerouted Through Stock Show

I-70, Again

A Multi Modal Solution to I-70 Congestion

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

Local officials totally unprepared for bad road conditions -- again

Off Limits

A public service announcement from Westword...

Breaking: Paramedic at Denver Health forged certification, boss covered up

A public service announcement from Westword...

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 >>

Best Internet Traffic Monitor

www.denvergov.org/traffic

Pop Quiz

Heard Words
December 4, 2003

Best Highway Beautification Project

"Currents and Eddies"

Martha Daniels

Wake-Up Call: Business, not as usual

Barack Obama spilled way past 60 Minutes talking about the economy last night, and there's still plenty of talk to come. Trump University is in session, offering four days of classes on how you can "make a fortune" in real estate; today's are at 1 and 6 p.m. at the Westin Westminster; tomorrow's ... More >>

Better Fed Than Dead

Taking a walk on the wild side.

Off Limits

It's a family affair

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

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

EVERYBODY'S FUMING

HOUNDED BY THE CHAIN LAW AND INEXHAUSTIBLE COMPLAINTS, TRUCKERS BEMOAN THE LOSS OF A VAIL PASS PULLOFF.

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

HOUNDED BY THE CHAIN LAW AND INEXHAUSTIBLE COMPLAINTS, TRUCKERS BEMOAN THE LOSS OF A VAIL PASS PULLOFF.

Drive safely this weekend -- or else an army of cops will bust your ass

This weekend, law enforcement agencies across the state will be out in force to make sure you don't do anything stupid behind the wheel over the Memorial Day weekend. This link on the Colorado Department of Transportation website details the specific plans of 85 separate organizations. For instanc ... 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 >>

Caught on camera: Big cat on I-70 prowl

Photo courtesy Center for Native Ecosystems/Eco-Resolutions/Colorado Dept. of Transportation​For months, dozens of motion-sensor cameras along I-70 between Golden and Glenwood Springs have been snatching nocturnal images of wildlife, in an effort to study how elk, deer, bears and other species ... 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 >>

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 >>

RU buzzed? There's an app for that.

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 >>

Designers! Get wild on Vail Pass!

Mule deer and fawns heading up Vail Pass. ​The campaign to construct a wildlife bridge over I-70 near West Vail Pass got a major boost this week when the site was selected as the focus for a new, international design competition of wildlife crossing structures. Long identified as a problem ar ... More >>

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.

Driving up Mount Evans should be free. So why do so many pay a fee?

​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.

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

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

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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

​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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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

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 >>

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 >>

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.

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 ... More >>

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

​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 ... 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 >>

Strange but true news stories from the past year

Also read: 2011 Hall of Shame

Why Golden put the brakes on the Jefferson Parkway land swap

CDOT's Don Hunt.​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 out ... More >>

I-70 pace cars experiment is working, CDOT says -- just not all the time

​The Associated Press is reporting that the Interstate 70 pace car program was suspended Sunday in lieu of a review by the Colorado Department of Transportation. But while that's true in a technical sense, it's also a bit misleading. The CDOT program has only been officially shelved for this n ... More >>