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:
- What’s Up With the Hellish I-225 Corridor in Aurora?
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…