The State of Colorado’s multi-modal transportation system — all 23,000 lane miles, 3,400 bridges, and 35 mountain passes — is facing serious challenges: declining revenues met with weakened purchasing power and increased maintenance for aging infrastructure. Matthew King, a planner within the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Statewide planning program, provided us with an update on the Statewide Transportation Plan (SWP), prior to its adoption later in the month. This plan outlines CDOT’s priorities for the next 10 and 25 years.

The long-term vision focuses on improving safety, enhancing mobility, promoting economic vitality, and maintaining our existing transportation system in the face of limited funding.

To meet the 2040 goals, CDOT has chosen the top strategic actions to be implemented in the next ten years.  A full list of the strategic actions is available, with the following six as most interesting and pertinent to Denver:

• SAFETY FOCUS AREAS: Focus targeted safety investments and strategies on eight emphasis areas including aging road users, bicyclists and pedestrians, data, impaired driving, infrastructure, motorcyclists, occupant protection, and young drivers.
• REDUCE CRASHES: Identify and prioritize local road safety problems on all roadways using data driven processes and implement infrastructure, operations, and policy improvements as well as behavioral educational programs to reduce roadway crashes.
• MULTIMODAL SOLUTIONS: Consider multimodal transportation opportunities and choices in all project development. Coordinate and support efforts to implement multi-modal transportation infrastructure improvements (i.e., transit stations, bus bike racks, park-and-rides, transit slip ramps) that meaningfully integrate bicycle, pedestrian, and transit connectivity in the state’s transportation network.
• INTERREGIONAL TRANSIT: Implement Bustang (CDOT’s new interregional express bus service, as presented at our November 2014 meeting) on I-25 between Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs and on the I-70 mountain corridor between Glenwood Springs and Denver.
• BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN: Complete an inventory of bicycle and pedestrian assets as to assess needs and gaps for future prioritization.
• PROJECT SELECTION AND PROGRAMMING: Continue to make more effective and efficient use of limited funding through the enhanced application of data-driven decision making processes, particularly for project selection.

We look forward to seeing a renewed focus on multi-modalism and data-driven decision making processes from CDOT as a means to increase mobility and safety across the State.

Michael King, Colorado Department of Transportation Planner presented to Denver INC’s Transportation Committee on March 12th 2015. See the full presentation deck for more details on the process of developing the state-wide plan.  There is much more information, including videos and presentations, at Colorado Transportation Matters, CDOT’s statewide transportation plan web site.