I 70 sucks

[coskigirl]

RTD could get involved and if they ran the “coach style” buses like we used to take to DIA and if the price & times were decent people would be more inclined to use them. But the 1 time I took a bus (crappy in town bus) from Lakewood to Breck it actually dropped us in Frisco and we had to grab the local bus up to Breck. The return times were early too. All in all we were able to ski about 4 hrs once we got the bus connections. Combined with the price it just wasn’t worth it (circa 04-05).

But if I was able to get a bus reservation and had time choices I would be more apt to try it again. Lots of us that commuted in Denver took buses or light rail to-from work, many of our workplaces gave us free passes. It worked great and while it took slightly longer than driving it was definitely more relaxed. I enjoyed being able to kick back and listen to music or just zone out and people watch.

CDOT runs the Bustang. I have no idea how successful it is. https://ridebustang.com/

 

[EricG]

CDOT runs the Bustang. I have no idea how successful it is. https://ridebustang.com/

Have you ever seen the bus up there?

If they spent the money, ran promos, had good times, I bet some people would jump on it. The times appear to be lacking and geared towards regular travelers, not ski/board specific traffic.

 

[fatbob]

We have two lanes to work with*. Assume the right one has trucks going at 30mph with chains. Do the buses go into the slow moving truck lane and take twice as long to get there, or do they go into the left lane?

* You could apply a bus rule for the sections with 3 lanes, I suppose.

All non-bus traffic goes with the trucks. You'd don't want to crawl - take the bus which sails by or travel out of peak. We said drastic measures to end the "me me me" convenience.

 

[Doug Briggs]

How about making one lane bus only at certain times. Default is stew in the single traffic lane or pay handsomely to access express lane where available. All tolls to directly subsidise buses. Drastic but if you have to change behaviours.....

There aren't enough buses on the planet to make that work effectively.

 

[givethepigeye]

In other new -flew up I70 today, no issue, no drama, no traffic, 470 -> Vail in about 1:45 (with a stop). Pick your days I guess.

 

[Monique]

All non-bus traffic goes with the trucks. You'd don't want to crawl - take the bus which sails by or travel out of peak. We said drastic measures to end the "me me me" convenience.

Er. I'm pretty sure the busses would use chains, too, and be just as slow. (Anyone know?)

Perhaps this would not be a terrible idea during peak times. However ... seems to me that making it an HOV lane during peak hours would be more reasonable.

 

[coskigirl]

In other new -flew up I70 today, no issue, no drama, no traffic, 470 -> Vail in about 1:45 (with a stop). Pick your days I guess.

Wednesday, gorgeous sunny day on the Front Range, spring break is next week. Yep, I'd expect traffic to be pretty light today.

 

[givethepigeye]

Wednesday, gorgeous sunny day on the Front Range, spring break is next week. Yep, I'd expect traffic to be pretty light today.

My point is that its pretty predictable as when it’s going to suck- plan accordingly. I would never arrive on a Sat or Fri evening. When we head out on Sun - we grab first chair or so and we gone by noon.

 

[Ken_R]

Wednesday, gorgeous sunny day on the Front Range, spring break is next week. Yep, I'd expect traffic to be pretty light today.

i70 is starting to get busy even at non-peak hours. I mean, judging by my drive to Berthoud Pass today at 9 ish am. Lots of cars with skis and boards on top. Not many took the Empire exit and kept heading west.

 

[Monique]

Yeah, there are plenty of times that were predictably clear just 2-3 years ago, but are now quite possibly congested.

 

[Lake n Ski]

The problem is multi-faceted and really untouchable by simply requiring 4WD, chains, more buses, having tolls or "peak" tolls, etc. The front range and resulting traffic along I-70 is BOOMING and will only continue to increase. Sadly, the answer is likely a monumental shift in how people travel along this corridor and will carry an equally monumental bill.....And nobody wants to foot that bill.

 

[tball]

Fixing the monster Silverthorne potholes shut down WB I-70 for 4 hours the other day:
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/03/18/interstate-70-potholes-cdot/

On visitors getting stuck in weekend traffic with front rangers, I just don't get it. I see so many rentals driving up on Friday and back down on Sunday. I'm stuck doing so, such is our lives at the moment. If I were flying to DIA, though, I'd avoid it at all cost. Do folks not know about the weekend traffic? Maybe an education campaign would help?

As per I-70 being an untouchable problem, yes a big fix seems highly unlikely. That doesn't mean we can't make incremental improvements at the margin and get a long-term plan and funding source in place now. Should have done it 30 years ago, but better late than never.

 

[dbostedo]

Should have done it 30 years ago, but better late than never.

"If Colorado doesn't fix I-70 this year, it will only be one year older when it does."

 

[VickieH]

"If Colorado doesn't fix I-70 this year, it will only be one year older when it does."

Well, you're certainly the optimist. I think it will be a lot more than 1 year older when it does.

 

[Ski&ride]

On visitors getting stuck in weekend traffic with front rangers, I just don't get it. I see so many rentals driving up on Friday and back down on Sunday. I'm stuck doing so, such is our lives at the moment. If I were flying to DIA, though, I'd avoid it at all cost.

The “cost” is either vacation time or ski time!

Not every visitor spend the day at home and fly in on Friday night because they’re so totally ignorant of the traffic. They maybe in the office just like you!!!

From the east coast, or midwest (which is about 80% of the visitors), we can work half day Friday, get on a plane mid-afternoon and be at Denver ...Friday evening!!!

Returning home, a week later, to catch a flight Sunday evening and be on my own bed before midnight.

Yes, the traffic. It will eventually make that schedule become impossible. But until that day, you’ll still see many rental cars in your mix.

 

[daemon]

I-70 traffic is pretty much why I stayed in Kremmling instead of some place on I-70 (like Idaho Springs) whenever I skied in Summit Country. By almost never driving on I-70, I avoided some pretty massive traffic jams that way.

This is a simple case of too many people wanting the same thing, which itself is a symptom of too many people existing on the planet. Even if you increased the capacity of I-70, it would just shift the problem rather than solving it. First, all the parking lots will fill up. If you expand the parking lots, then the mountains themselves will become overcrowded. (As if Keystone isn't already...) If you build more lifts, then the ski industry will expand, and skiing will become more accessible, and even more people will want to do it. Then the road capacity will need to expand again. etc., etc., etc. By then, so many people will be driving (or even riding the bus) and emitting CO2, that winter will basically no longer exist.

The earth only has so much physical capacity to provide for everyone who wants to exploit a little piece of it. I-70 traffic (along with overcrowding of resorts on that corridor) is just a small indicator that we're approaching the limit of how much the earth can provide.

Then again, the few times I drove on I-70 between Denver and Vail, it was always on a weekday, and there were very few other vehicles. I could drive as fast as I wanted. Definitely, part of the problem is the ridiculously rigid and arbitrary Mon-Fri work schedule that pidgeonholes most of the workforce into taking the same two days off as everyone else. If people could stagger their time off, then maybe, just maybe, they could spread out their traffic enough to avoid major jams... at least until the population explodes so much that the roads are congested 24/7. Which is already nearly the case in cities like NYC and San Francisco.

 

[Monique]

Then again, the few times I drove on I-70 between Denver and Vail, it was always on a weekday, and there were very few other vehicles. I could drive as fast as I wanted.

This is becoming less true every year.

 

[Green08]

The overall appeal of Denver as a destination may have peaked.

https://www.redfin.com/blog/q3-2018-migration-report
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/business/economy/home-prices-housing-market-slowdown.html

It is not inevitable that more people will move and live along I-70. It appears that the Denver metro may have reached a tipping point in the last several years, and more people are looking to move AWAY from Denver. Poor public infrastructure leading to traffic congestion and rapidly rising cost of housing are no doubt factors in that.

 

[Mike King]

Looks like @tball has been lobbying the state legislature...

https://coloradosun.com/2019/04/08/...-30142877&mc_cid=62fdafe47f&mc_eid=b8ce61c3ee

 

[Noodler]

Looks like @tball has been lobbying the state legislature...

https://coloradosun.com/2019/04/08/...-30142877&mc_cid=62fdafe47f&mc_eid=b8ce61c3ee

It will be interesting to see if this bill actually has any traction. Sorry, I just couldn't resist.