Most of us know basically the entire US 36 Corridor is a major pain to drive—especially during rush hour. The addition of HOV/HOT lanes from Downtown to Federal Blvd. has helped make access from US 36 into Downtown a little easier for commuters, but accessing most communities and destinations along the corridor has proven to be frustrating to say the least. With the finalization of a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan and kick-off of a $306 million expansion project, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) can move forward with extending the HOV/HOT lanes and other highway improvements along the corridor.
The $54 million TIFIA loan finalized on September 1 carries a 3.58 percent interest rate and must be repaid by 2049. The TIFIA program provides financial assistance to transportation projects (highway, rail, transit, etc.) of national or regional significance. This Federal program was created to fill market gaps in these large projects while leveraging co-investments. The remaining $252 million of the project comes from CDOT, RTD, the High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), the Colorado Bridge Enterprise, and the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG).
The US 36 Corridor is important to the FasTracks program, as it will be where RTD institutes its first foray into Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The expanded HOV/HOT lanes will be instrumental in helping implement this new service from RTD. For more information, check out the video below:
The first phase starting early next year includes:
- Reconstructing pavement on US 36 and widening the highway to include a 12-foot shoulder;
- Adding a barrier-separated managed lane in both directions between Pecos and the Interlocken Loop;
- Reconstructing the Wadsworth Parkway, Wadsworth Boulevard, and Lowell Boulevard bridges over US 36;
- Adding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) improvements;
- Installing Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) similar to what is found along I-25 today; and
- Installing a commuter bikeway.
any details on the “bikeway”? hopefully this will not be like the bike shoulder on pena blvd to DIA which is completely unusable. i’m not sure why they wasted money putting up bike signs there at all.
I’ll look into it and see if I can find anymore information on the bikeway.
Interested in the bike line as well.
Also interested if they have any details on how they will handle the bus going from the HOV lane in the middle to where the stops currently are on the sides?
I’ll check into it and see how this arrangement will work.
I have real doubts this will become a true BRT system. BRT systems are supposed to function much like light rail with defined stations and transit completely separate from auto traffic. BRT systems in LA and Ottawa and other cities function this way. This system will require busses to negotiate car traffic along US36 to get to the middle managed lanes and will have to stop at stop lights along exit ramps. If there are accidents or bad weather along US36, the busses will be affected. I remain skeptical about the success of the proposed BRT. The original idea of putting the busses in their own dedicated lanes central to the highway separate from car lanes and interchanges would have been a real BRT system. We’ll see how this works a couple years…
Do you know what will happen to the bus services that go to Boulder today? The BV and BX sound covered by this plan, but what about the S bus to East Boulder?
Broadening out the question a little bit, is it that:
– These new infrastructure improvements will boost the speed and convenience of current routes?
– or that the new infrastructure will affect which routes are offered?
Thanks for the update, as always.
Bikeway,
From what I remember, the bike line will be a combination of paved/gravel paths that would follow the highway, but never be connected to it. It would follow some existing paths, like the paved path that runs along 36 by the mall, but mostly be new. I vaguely remember getting the Civil Engineers report on how the path will work with the existing wetlands that run along the highway. Unfortunately, I do not remember any more. Hope that helps a little.
Will