I-25 Could Be Widened To 3-Lanes In Northern Colorado Soon

If you ever have to drive on southbound I-25 during the afternoon rush, you are well aware that there are too many cars, too few lanes and too few alternate routes. I had resigned myself to the fact that it would be decades before we get more lanes added, but 9News is reporting that it could happen very soon.

Their story says that the Colorado Department of Transportation has a plan and about $145-million in Grant money ready to widen Interstate 25 to three lanes. However, a lot of I-25 in Weld County already has three lanes, and the CDOT proposal states that the third lane would be 'managed'.  (Which means it would be a toll lane.) Weld County commissioners don't want to penalize their taxpayers who have already paid to widen I-25 in their county and have a lane they've already "paid for" become a toll lane.

So, all of the counties involved have to agree on a plan with CDOT to get that grant money. If they don't, guess what? That money goes away and we wait 20-years to get our highway widened.

There is a meeting with the counties scheduled for tonight and CDOT says an announcement about Northern Colorado getting the the grant money or not should be made by the end of this month. You can read more about the specifics from 9News.

I don't want a toll lane on I-25, but if it means that I could drive to Denver on a Friday afternoon and have it take less than three hours, I think I'm all for it.

At this point, I don't care who pays for it, or if it is a toll road or not; it just needs to get done. If we wait much longer, we'll need six-lanes before we've finished widening it to three.

What do you think, would you be okay with a toll-lane if they widen I-25 here in Northern Colorado? Let the comments fly below.

*Fingers crosses this meeting between commissioners and CDOT goes well...*

[9News]