Sunday, May 28, 2006

I-70 Saga Continues

Even as the Colorado Department of Transportation finalizes a long-range plan for the I-70 corridor, due for release in September, the mountain corridor coalition is moving ahead with ambitious plans to try and address highway congestion in the short term.

The focus this summer is on transportation demand management, as the coalition recently released a draft plan that calls for a slew of incentive-based measures intended to address peak-time congestion in the corridor.

Some of the ideas floated in the draft include free close-in parking at ski areas for carpoolers, or coupons for discounted goods and services for visitors willing to adjust their travel times to outside peak hours.

Additionally, the plan calls for implementation of a high-tech traffic monitoring and notification system, which could be implemented in a pilot phase as soon as this summer, according to coalition director Flo Raitano. It's not clear to what degree such measures could actually alleviated the crushing peak loads on the highway.

The potential beneficial effect hasn't been quantified, Raitano said. But similar measures have been tried - with mixed success - in other areas, notably in some of the long-distance travel corridors along the Eastern Seaboard.

"The goal is spread out the traffic and numbers we have now," Raitano said, adding that the organization is looking for some public feedback on the measures outlined in the draft plan, available online at http://www.i-70coalition.org.

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