Adding Lanes Is a “Colossal Waste of Money and Ruins Cities”

Local governments and agencies, including the Colorado Department of Transportation, are asking the Denver Regional Council of Governments for federal funding for dozens of road-widening projects in the face of growing population expectations, according to Jacob Rigor, director of the DRCOG Transportation Planning and Operations Division. “We are adding a significant number of people by 2050 over a significant geographical area,” Rigor says. “We do think of all of our projects as really optimizing the use of these dollars. …That looks different in an outlying suburb than it does in the middle of Denver.”

According to DRCOG, about 3.4 million people live in the area it serves. That number is expected to grow to more than 4.4 million metro Denver residents by 2050.

And judging from their comments on the Westword Facebook post about DRCOG’s current study, most of those residents are very peeved about the current traffic situation. Says Robert:

More failed leadership from CDOT and DRCOG. Fifty years of research demonstrates unequivocally that adding lanes only helps for a few years before they get congested again. It’s a colossal waste of money and ruins cities. We need to get more serious about transit. For that kind of money, we could double RTD’s budget over the relevant timeframe.

Adds Erin:

Yes, yes. Let’s add more lanes and repeat the exact same failure we’ve been making for seventy years, which numerous scientific studies have proven to make traffic worse, because surely *this time* it will be different. CDOT is intent on making traffic worse, neglecting the roads we have, and wasting millions and millions of dollars because they refuse to acknowledge reality.

Wonders Juan:

How about fixing the existing roads and cleaning up the highways, too?

Offers Cortner:

Builders who buy land on the edge of Denver need to help pay for new lanes, new buses, new light rail. I’m all for BRT on highways, not pedestrian-focused streets like Colfax. A 65 mph speed limit through Denver or any major city is not realistic with exits and merging. Also, current traffic laws need to be enforced. Multi modal supports and improves all form of transportation, not just one. Public transit needs to be free to encourage ridership, which has worked in other cities and countries.

Responds Matthew:

You mean an expansive list of more Lexus Lanes so the rich Californians don’t have to sit in traffic while us common folk do? So they can cause a jam down the road merging to boot. Right.

Suggests Carlos:

Double highways. They got the money for it.

Adds Aaron:

Construction companies rub their greedy hand$ with excitement.

Offers Scott:

I swear they could solve half our traffic problems with two things that don’t include construction:

1) Fix the damn traffic light timing. Yes, I get it, the Department of Transportation thinks they are doing it a certain way. It doesn’t work in the real world the way it works on paper for them. Half the roads are empty and people are sitting at red lights while no one is crossing the intersection.

2) Make the left lane law apply to any limited access highway and then do oppressive, and I mean *oppressive* enforcement of only the left lane law and things related to driver inattentiveness on highways.

They won’t do it ,though. I’m going to die of old age at poorly timed red lights in the Denver area. Or stuck behind people going 55 in a 65 four lanes across. 

Instead they’re going to give us toll lanes that suffer from the same issues as the main lanes, except you get to pay extra for the privilege of being stuck behind someone going slow and you can’t go around them because of photo enforcement. This timeline sucks.

Says Jon:

If you build it, they will come. Build more single family homes and high density housing, and most of the time you’ll get more people. Doing nothing to the roads certainly won’t decrease the demand, it will just make commute times increase.

Concludes Kyle:

Okay. Fuck it. Bye, Denver.

What do you think about the current state of Colorado highways? What transportation projects would you support in metro Denver?