If you live or commute in the Denver metropolitan area, or have family and friends that do, you may want to use the current public comment period to share your thoughts (and encourage others to do the same) about The Denver Regional Council of Government’s (DRCOG) plan to curtail highway projects that would help alleviate traffic congestion in and around the city.
This article from CPR News provides the details, including the rationale behind the plan to “eliminate planned new toll lanes and instead prioritize improvements to transit, pedestrian, and bicycle connectivity, and safety.”
While the proposed shift in transportation funding is an effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions — it isn’t clear how creating more traffic congestion and stalled, idling cars will help with that — it also is an attempt to influence over time how many Coloradans live.
“Planners also have ambitious plans for new, dense neighborhoods stuffed with apartments and for-sale homes, restaurants, a new grocery store, and other retail. While they won’t be car-free, Shaw said, they will help new residents not rely on cars for every trip outside their homes.”
You can find the details of the DRCOG Transportation plan here. At that same link, there is a “Share Your Thoughts” section where you can let officials what you think of the plan to reduce the funding of highway expansion projects that would ease current traffic woes. Comments are being accepted through September 6th. If motorists don’t speak up, the ability to drive in and around the city of Denver will become more difficult as transportation dollars are diverted.