Can the county handle the I-70 pressure?
Editor:
I think most people don’t do stupid things because they are stupid; they do so mostly under pressure.
The Interstate 70 expansion is pressure that Idaho Springs and Clear Creek County would love to just go away. The Colorado Department of Transportation is also under pressure from those calling the shots under the Gold Dome in Denver.
Every dollar for I-70 up here competes for tax dollars with powerful interests down there. So CDOT has an incentive to try to cut corners up here.
The latest corner-cutting measure is the use of I-70 shoulders to create a third lane. Don’t ask things like how emergency vehicles will get to wrecks. While CDOT claims this is a temporary fix, rest assured that once in place, it will relieve pressure on CDOT from having to perform a lasting solution for I-70 through Clear Creek County.
Temporary will become indefinite. It will also give away a key bargaining chip in negotiating funding for the mitigation of the economic impacts of the I-70 expansion on Clear Creek County and Idaho Springs.
In short, allowing the expansion of the shoulders of I-70 for traffic lanes is a sucker’s deal for our community.
Mike Caistor