An upsurge in speeding tickets on newly widened Interstate 25 south of downtown Denver is ironic proof that traffic planners were wise to put a new light-rail line alongside expanded highway lanes.
Before the T-REX project began five years ago, speeding was all but unthinkable during peak commuting periods. Speeds averaged 30 miles per hour but often slowed to a crawl as cars stopped, inched forward and stopped again, like some slow-motion Slinky creeping toward the horizon.
T-REX added lanes and other improvements to the freeway between Broadway and Lincoln Avenue and strung a high-capacity light-rail line along the same route.
Now, the Colorado Department of Transportation reports the average rush-hour commuter on that stretch of I-25 drives 65 mph. Unfortunately, that’s 10 mph above the posted speed limit inside Denver. On a recent Saturday, Greenwood Village officers ticketed 49 speeders on that city’s portion of I-25, with the slowest offender going 82 mph while one motorcyclist blazed along at 123 mph.
As a result, CDOT is now studying whether to raise the speed limit on the Denver stretch to 65 mph, matching the limit already in place from Douglas County to the I-225 interchange.
We won’t prejudge that study, but the dramatic change in traffic movement does prove the wisdom of the highway/light-rail blend. Highway-only projects often lure so many new drivers that they are congested as soon as they open. In T-REX’s case, enough commuters opted for the rail line to maximize the benefits of the new highway lanes, at least for now. That’s a strong argument for multi-modal transportation projects.
