Draft 10‑year plan previews: western slope safety, pavement and multimodal projects spotlighted
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Summary
CDOT and regional representatives previewed the draft 10‑year plan for Regions 3 and 5, highlighting strategic safety work (Red Dirt Hill, I‑70 interchanges), Glenwood Canyon asset repair, a Grand Junction mobility hub, and major Region 5 corridor projects including US‑160 Elmore East (a $59M INFRA‑supported corridor upgrade).
Darius and regional staff walked STAC through a tranche of proposed projects in the draft 10‑year plan, focusing on priorities for the Western Slope in Regions 3 and 5.
Region 3 director proxies and Mark Rogers described 45 proposed projects (10 new) with an expected strategic funding envelope of roughly $132,000,000 for FY27–30 and $198,000,000 for FY31–36. Six highlights included Red Dirt Hill (Grand County) where the plan proposes $10,000,000 in strategic funds plus regional contributions for safety improvements (turn lanes, shoulders, acceleration/deceleration lanes); Garfield County interchange improvements on I‑70 (Exits 97 and 105) programmed with $7,000,000 in the first four years and additional funds later for ramp capacity and operational safety; Glenwood Canyon critical asset repairs including a guardrail package (about $11,000,000) and a larger surface treatment (~$30,000,000); and a $19,000,000 cold‑in‑place recycle on SH‑149 targeted in the later years of the plan.
Region 3 also emphasized sustainable mobility elements, for example the I‑70 business loop/Grand Junction corridor project that would install lighting, upgraded ADA ramps, sidewalks and a mobility hub connecting Amtrak, local transit and other modes.
Julie Constant presented Region 5’s slate: 36 proposed projects (28 carryovers, 8 new) with roughly $69,000,000 for FY27–30 and $103,000,000 for FY31–36. Major highlights include the US‑160 Elmore East safety/mobility project (a long‑running corridor effort that received a $59,000,000 INFRA grant), which will widen about four miles to improve passing, add a center turn lane, install a roundabout at a high‑crash intersection and add wildlife fencing/underpasses; shoulder and passing improvements on US‑285 (about $70,000,000 targeted); and multimodal/Main‑street safety and ADA upgrades on CO‑145 for towns such as Norwood and Rico.
Programmatic takeaways from the presentation: the draft plan skews heavily toward pavement and rural road work (34 projects with pavement as a primary purpose, including 20 rural projects), structure repairs (10 projects), shoulder/passing lane safety work (12 projects), wildlife mitigation (6 projects) and intersection improvements (19 projects). Darius noted a greenhouse‑gas analysis for non‑MPO areas shows the plan meets reduction levels for 2030 and 2050 but will need mitigation for 2040.
What’s next: Regions 1, 2 and 4 will workshop their projects in January; STAC will receive further briefings and a recommended plan may be considered by the Transportation Commission for adoption later in the winter/spring cycle.