I-70 Saga Continues

While the state continues to study what improvements to make to ease congestion along Interstate 70, summit County's towns are split when it comes to the question of future funding for the I-70 Mountain Corridor Coalition.

The coalition consists of 30 towns and counties along and near I-70 that joined together to develop a common vision for addressing future transportation solutions in the corridor.

At a recent town council work session, Breckenridge Mayor Ernie Blake suggested his town won't pay $7,500 to hire an executive director for the group. But Frisco Mayor Bernie Zurbriggen thinks it's important to have someone in place who "eats, sleeps and breathes" I-70 during the next year, as the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) finalizes a programmatic impact study for a planned slate of improvements to the highway between Golden and Glenwood Springs.

At issue is a tentative plan by the coalition to create an executive director's position at a cost of about $75,000 to $100,000. The idea is to get the various entities to share that cost.