As Community's Colorado's Front Range Grows, Road Planning Follows

Transportation planners are creating extra road capacity to keep up with sprawling development in the I-25 corridor in Colorado's Northern Front Range.

1 minute read

September 19, 2019, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Natural Fort, Colorado

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"With Colorado’s demographers projecting that the northern Front Range will lead the state in population growth over the next 30 years, planners have already started seeking relief for the heavily traveled Interstate 25 corridor," reports John Aguilar.

"In addition to a road-widening express lanes project that broke ground on I-25 last fall, the state is planning a brand-new road just east of the interstate, stretching 14 miles from Mead to Loveland," according to Aguilar.

Cities in Weld and Larimer counties are underway with development of thousands of homes and millions of square feet of commercial development, according to this article and previous news coverage. Places like Berthoud, Johnstown, and Mead had fewer than 10,000 people in the 2010 Census.

"The Colorado Demography Office pegs the north Front Range with the highest rate of growth in the state going forward, projecting that in the next five years the population in Larimer and Weld counties will grow at an annual rate of 2.5% — nearly double Denver/Boulder’s annual 1.3% rate," according to Aguilar. "Looking out to 2050, the demography office projects the north Front Range will burgeon from 665,000 people in 2018 to more than 1.2 million 30 years from now." 

Tuesday, September 17, 2019 in The Denver Post

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