DENVER -- Thousands of people are getting a chance to listen in and ask the Colorado Department of Transportation questionsduring telephone town halls. And people are asking the most about HOV lanes and funding.
Traffic congestion and road construction are what pops out to drivers.
"I spend a lot of time on I-25, and this is the season for road questions," said driver Megan Hall. "When you think you're going to catch a break, something else pops up."
Colorado’s population is exploding, and people want to know what's being done to fix congestion.
Around 6,700 callers either listened in or asked questions on CDOT's telephone conference in the Boulder-Denver region. Questions about money came up.
CDOT has about a billion dollars in their annual budget.
"Just about all of that goes to maintaining what we have, we have very little left to expand capacity," said CDOT spokesperson Tamara Rollison."So, that's an ongoing challenge for us."
People also asked why the HOV lanes require three people instead of two.
"To keep our managed lanes flowing reliably. So that you can always have a reliable trip, we need to bump that occupancy up," said Rollison.
Drivers Denver7 spoke to had the same concerns as the callers.
"We need to address this and just look around the world, even countries that are supposedly below our standard, their infrastructure is infinitely better for public transportation," said Kami Hunter.
“Maximize the road space, that's really it. Other than that, the commute is pretty nice," said Aaron Marshal. "But, maximize the road space. It's crazy."
CDOT is working to compile all the questions that were asked in the telephone town halls for people to review in the next few weeks.
Denver7 will keep you posted once that report comes out. The last two telephone town hallswrap up on Tuesday.
