State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

A 10-lane highway and Colorado's first autonomous vehicle lane could be prescription for west-suburban Denver traffic jams

The Denver Post: Transportation planners are unveiling an ambitious blueprint to unsnarl traffic jams in Denver’s western suburbs — one that could more than double the size of C-470 near Morrison, expand Highway 93 south of Boulder to four lanes and, along the beltway, embrace the future of self-driving vehicles with a first-in-the-state lane designation for their use.

That strategy — the more expansive of two approaches the state is considering — is a response to projections of mushrooming traffic along those major arteries over the next two decades and comes on the heels of announcements from automotive giants about autonomous-vehicle rollouts as soon as next year.

But as with all large road-improvement projects in Colorado, how much of that vision becomes reality and when will depend on funding — improvements to the 26-mile stretch encompassing C-470, Highway 93 from Littleton to Boulder and U.S. 6 could cost anywhere from $1 billion to $2 billion.

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