CDOT opening its doors in Grand Junction on Saturday

May 19, 2016 - Northwestern Colorado/CDOT Region 3 - Grand Junction Cabela’s graciously hosting as part of their Hometown Heroes event

GRAND JUNCTION — Have you ever wondered what the view is like from the inside of a snowplow?  Or a State Patrol vehicle?  Or what exactly takes place inside the control room at Hanging Lake Tunnel? CDOT, in cooperation with Cabela’s, is hosting its first Open Roads event on Saturday, May 21 from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the Grand Junction Cabela’s location. The occasion partners with Cabela’s Hometown Heroes Memorial Day event.

As part of the Cabela’s event all active military,veterans, law-enforcement, firefighters and emergency services personnel will be offered special discounts.

The Memorial Day event will recognize the sacrifice and dedication of those who protect and serve our country and communities with special activities as a way of saying “thank you” for their service.

On Saturday, from 11:00am to 2:00pm Cabela’s will be offering free hotdogs to the public. Donations will be accepted with all proceeds going to local Law Enforcement.

The Open Roads event will give the public the opportunity to:    

  • Paint snowplow blades (children only).

  • Acquire information regarding road construction this summer.

  • View information about traffic metering, Express Lanes, safety metering and other topics of interest to the traveling public.

  • Obtain information about potential career opportunities at CDOT

  • Take a pledge to drive distraction-free by adding your name to our Drop the Distraction billboard;  Get car seats checked for proper fit by a certified technician; Meet traffic safety advocates from your area to ask questions about Colorado's Graduated Driver's License program and other safety issues.

  • Experience the inside of a Colorado State Patrol vehicle.

Cabela’s is located at Mesa Mall, 2424 U.S. 6 & 50, Grand Junction. Attendees also will be able to participate in a random drawing with the winners given the opportunity to tour the inside the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon next month.   CDOT also will be collecting names for the drawing on its Facebook page following the Open Roads event.  The winners and tour date will be announced in early June.   

“We want our citizens to have a better idea of what this agency is all about and what we do to make peoples’ lives a bit easier,” said CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt.  “Building and maintaining highways is a big part of what we do but that’s not all.  We run a bus system, have bike trails, lots of safety programs.  We’re not just about highways. It’s a long list of what we do to benefit Colorado.  Please come out and spend some time with us on Saturday.”