Why not make better use of existing rails?

[Tom Slattery]

There is already rail service to Winter Park that can be increased.  Also a spur can be run from Kremmling down the Blue River to Summit County to serve Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin with bus service on to Vail.  A spur can be run from Dotsero to serve Vail (and maybe the existing Royal Gorge Route can be revived to serve Cooper and Vail as well.)  Also the old spur line from Glenwood to Aspen could be revived.

Granted this would not be as fast as I-70 but the pleasures of a ski-train are hard to beat.  At least efficient rail service would well serve destination skiers from out of state and local skiers who would spend more than one day on the slopes.  The trains could be a major attraction to bring people up without seriously taxing the environment.  Reasonably priced, convenient bus service could supplement the trains and reduce traffic on I-70.  If you are going to penalize drivers in any way you had better provide some feasible alternatives!

 

If a toll on the Interstate is not against federal law or regulations, it sure should be.

 

As to widening I-70, there appears to be a great deal of rotten rock between Floyd Hill and Georgetown Hill.  I wonder if this stretch can safely be widened without creating serious rockfall and moving mountain hazzards. It seems to me that CDOT would have widened that stretch a long time ago if it were practical.  Of course a Glenwood Canyon style roadway could probably be constructed at great expense.

 

Thomas M. Slattery

Wheat Ridge