After six years and an even longer period of initial design work, the US 36 stakeholders (including all the communities along the route, plus loads of state and federal officials) have arrived at a final plan for transportation infrastructure investments along this corridor. 

The basics of the plan remain much the same since we first envisioned the necessary improvements:  A bus/high occupancy vehicle lane along the entire stretch of US 36, some roadway expansions at critical pinch-points, and a complete bikeway.  There have been some minor tweaks along the way, though, to accommodate specific community interests and funding realities.  A full outline of the US 36 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which comprises the build-out plan is available at http://www.us36eis.com/.

Now that we have arrived at this momentous point, poised to begin moving from talk into action on US 36, there is one missing ingredient . . . money. 

Ultimately, RTD and and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) were expected to share in most of the cost for completing the planned improvements to US 36, but neither agency has much funding available in the foreseeable future.  It is in recognition of this financial hurdle that the transportation advocacy organization, US 36 Commuting Solutions, has been rallying support for funding from all available sources to help fix US 36.  You can learn more about the effort at http://www.36commutingsolutions.org/Help%20Us%20Fix.htm.

Proving that politics and transportation funding can make strange bedfellows ( : , Bob Greenlee and I joined together in the effort to identify funding resources or US 36.  The venue was a joint statement of support that appeared in the Boulder County Business Report and the Daily Camera.  You can read our full opinion piece here, http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13224989?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com.  In summary, though, we note the important progress that the final EIS represents along with some responsible compromises, and ask the public to come together in support of completing these critical transportation investments.

If Bob and I can get together around this plan for US 36, then I hope you can join us, too.  But please let me know if you have any questions about the US 36 investment plan or suggestions for addressing the funding shortage.