Safety

Eliminating fatalities and reducing injuries and property damage are measures of enhanced safety. All users must be considered and protected: wildlife, first responders, corridor workers, trail users, automobiles, and commercial carriers. All types of safety must be considered: vehicle collisions, weather, rock falls, construction, and wildlife crossings.

The I-70 Mountain Corridor is a unique section of interstate that passes through mountainous terrain. The corridor cuts through rock formations that are prone to rock slides. Weather conditions in the corridor also play a role in safety. In the winter, frequent snowstorms impact driving conditions and traveler safety. Additionally, the current I-70 Mountain Corridor design includes steep vertical grades and/or sharp horizontal curves. The speed limit varies throughout the corridor.

As alternatives to improve the I-70 Mountain Corridor are developed, improving the safety of the corridor should be paramount; and design should address the unique conditions of the corridor.

The Evaluation Guidance details how I-70 Mountain Corridor alternatives will be evaluated. The Alternative Evaluation Guidance documents how how safety criteria will be used to determine how well an alternative is able to enhance the safety of the I-70 Mountain Corridor. Criteria are provided for use at each level of alternative analysis.

During the I-70 Mountain Corridor Context Sensitive Solution Workshops, the stakeholders developed a list of critical issues to be considered during all future work on the corridor. The stakeholders further provided a list of safety strategies that should be considered when developing and refining alternatives.