This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared for the Federal Boulevard Improvements Project. The stretch of Federal Boulevard in the Project Area is lined by commercial development with residential development behind the businesses. Federal Boulevard serves as a high travel-demand traffic corridor. This is a local-agency project sponsored by the City and County of Denver (CCD) in conjunction with CDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) serving as joint lead agencies.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) initiated this US 24 PEL Study to examine existing transportation conditions and anticipated problem areas along the US 24 corridor in El Paso County between Powers Boulevard and the Town of Ramah. The study identified and screened a reasonable range of potential transportation improvements to develop an implementation plan for projects to meet the operational, safety, and capacity needs along the corridor. The study was conducted following Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) PEL guidance regarding the integration of transportation planning and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, which encourages the use of planning studies to provide information for incorporation into future NEPA documents.
The FACWet was developed by surveying existing wetland rapid assessment methodologies and blending the best aspects these approaches with the most recent advances in wetland science.
Wildlife fencing along highways can lower wildlife-vehicle collision rates by excluding animals from the road right-of-way. Still, animals can breach fencing and end up trapped within the fencing along the highway right-of-way, exposing wildlife and motorists to the risk of collision. Wildlife escape ramps are designed to allow animals safe passage out of the right-of-way. Few recommendations exist on effective design of escape ramps and monitoring data are limited.
The Grand Avenue Bridge project will replace the existing Grand Avenue Bridge with a new bridge that begins at the current southern touchdown point, then curves to the west to touch down north of the river at a location west of the existing bridge. The pedestrian bridge adjacent to the highway bridge will also be replaced on the same general alignment as the existing pedestrian bridge. The project will improve the north and south connections for both bridges, and will change the 6th Street/Laurel Street intersection to a roundabout configuration as part of the SH 82/Grand Avenue Bridge north connection improvements.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has been collecting data from the Hamburg Rutter and the French Rutter for over 20 years. No specifications have been written in that time for either the Hamburg Rutter or the French Rutter. This is largely due to the need for a companion test to be developed so dry asphalt mixes would not be designed specifically for passing the Hamburg Rutter test. This report looks at the state of practice within other states that own similar equipment. Cracking tests that could be run with the Hamburg Rutter are examined from a review of literature to determine if there is a suitable companion test for the Hamburg Rutter that would work to keep asphalt levels in the mix high enough to prevent cracking and fatigue.
The objective of this project was to integrate the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, Interim Edition: A Manual of Practice and its accompanying software into the daily pavement design, evaluation, rehabilitation, management, and forensic analysis practices and operations of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
Corrosion resistant alloys and non-metallic coating have been tested by exposure to Glenwood Springs geothermal water in a test loop constructed for the purpose adjacent to the Glenwood Springs geothermal well. Several alloys were tested. None of the materials showed any measurable degradation during the test. However, it is recommended that the results be applied with caution; several factors suggest that the data from these tests might be overly optimistic and that corrosive conditions in practice could be more severe. Based on this study and previous studies on geothermal heating of bridge decks, consideration for geothermal heating of two structures in Glenwood Canyon is underway.
