The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT, pronounced See Dot) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that administers state government responsibility for transportation in the state of Colorado. CDOT is responsible for maintaining

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

's 9,144 mile highway system, including 3,429 bridges with over 28 billion vehicle miles of travel per year. CDOT's stated Mission is "To provide the best multi-modal transportation system for Colorado that most effectively moves people, goods, and information." It is governed by the Transportation Commission of Colorado. Motor Carriers over 10,000 lbs are regulated by the state and are required to obtain a federal

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

(USDOT) safety tracking number used to monitor carriers' safety management practices and controls.

History

The Colorado Department of Transportation has its roots in 1909, when the first highway bill was passed by forming a three-member Highway Commission to approve work and allocate funds. The Commission first took their post on January 1, 1910. In 1917 the State Highway Fund was created and the State Highway Department was formed. In 1935, Highway Department employees were joined by 44 new co-workers selected from among 7,500 applicants to become the first members of the Colorado State Highway Courtesy Patrol. The Patrol later became a division of the Highway Department. In 1947, the first National System of Interstate and Defense Highways was approved by the federal works administrator. In Colorado, approved routes included all of

I-25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...

from the

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

border to

Raton Pass Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, N ...

; all of I-80S (now I-76); and

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. I-70 appr ...

from

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

to the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

border. In 1953 the state legislature passed a new law reorganizing the Highway Department and renaming it the Colorado Department of Highways. In 1956,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

passed the Federal Interstate Highways Act. Among the approvals was the section of I-70 from Denver to the

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

border. In 1968, legislation reorganized highway matters and created the Colorado Department of Highways (CDOH) with 3 main divisions: Division of Highways, Division of Planning and Research, and Division of Patrol. In 1991 – CDOH became CDOT to better align its functions and budgets with

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

Sustainable transportation policy

The state adopted a low emission vehicle standard in 2018 and a Zero emission vehicle standard in 2019, which are projected cause a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. This is part of Governor

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...

's plan to cut transportation emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. In 2019, Shoshana Lew assumed leadership of CDOT. Under her leadership, the Colorado Transportation Commission approved a policy designed to stop any increases in

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

from transportation in

, by requiring transportation planners to calculate any emissions associated with a project and mitigate accordingly. The policy was approved by the State Transportation Commission on a 10-1 vote. Apart from environmental benefits, this policy could deliver $40 billion in economic benefits, including fewer

traffic collisions A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collision, collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, Utility pole ...

. Under this policy, the governor-appointed Colorado Transportation Commission would have authority to restrict funding for use only on climate-friendly transportation projects if the CDOT or a regional planning authority fails to meet its emissions reduction target. Lew stated that this policy allows for capacity increases, but that major projects would require offsets in the form of climate-friendly additions. Examples include the

Bustang Bustang is an intercity bus service in the U.S. state of Colorado. Service began in 2015 and originally traveled between Denver and Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Glenwood Springs. Service has since been expanded to connect Grand Junction ...

and Flatiron Flyer bus systems that serve Colorado communities. The transportation commission would also have the authority to grant waivers to this policy. Lew stated this policy enables Colorado to "lead by example" in reducing emissions, in the face of increasing impacts of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. The policy has received nationwide plaudits for "showing us how to end America's addiction to highway expansion". However, it also received criticism for some who were concerned that the CDOT had become "preoccupied with cleaning the air."

Services

Highways

CDOT maintains the state highways in Colorado. The main arteries include

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

, and Interstate 76. It takes information from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center to ensure safety in winter months.

Bus

The Colorado Department of Transportation operates the

as an intercity bus service to connect the regions of Colorado to each other. It also provides support for other bus systems in the state, such as the Flatiron Flyer which connects

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, which is directly operated by the

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in all or a portion of eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. ...

Aviation

The Colorado Division of Aeronautics is a part of the CDOT. It was created by statute in 1988 and is responsible for the development of aviation in Colorado.

Rail

Long-distance intercity passenger rail service in Colorado is provided by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

on the

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

and

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

, which operate long-distance cross-country routes on east-west alignments, through central and southern Colorado respectively. Light rail and commuter rail service in the

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver regi ...

is provided by the

, which also operates local and regional bus service. The bus and rail service is known as RTD Bus & Rail, and provides a comprehensive system of transit for that region. There have been persistent proposals for a

Front Range Passenger Rail Front Range Passenger Rail is a proposed Intercity rail, intercity passenger train service along the Front Range urban corridor, Front Range and broader Interstate 25, I-25 corridors in Colorado and Wyoming. Most proposals envision a route from ...

system, but they have not been implemented as of yet. This means that there is no rail service connecting the state's major population centers. In addition, the following

Heritage railways A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods ...

operate within Colorado. *

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge Heritage railway, heritage railroad that operates on of track between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, in the United Sta ...

* Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad *

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge heritage railway, heritage railroad that operates on of track between Durango, C ...

* Georgetown Loop Railroad * Rio Grande Scenic Railroad

References

External links

*
Colorado highway conditions

Colorado Department of Transportation maps and information

Transit and Rail Programs
{{authority control State agencies of Colorado Department of Transportation Transportation in Colorado State departments of transportation of the United States Government agencies established in 1917 1917 establishments in Colorado