I-25 North Widening - Longmont to Fort Collins

[andy3175]

There is renewed interest to expand Interstate 25 from Longmont to Fort Collins (roughly between the Colorado 66 and 14 interchanges) from four to six lanes. See below for the latest ... no solutions as of yet:

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/12/27/north-interstate-efforts-get-organized/77881632/

Ideas on how to widen I-25 from Fort Collins to Longmont to three lanes branch out in different directions from that shared understanding.

A number of efforts to widen I-25 have been met with varying levels of success over the years. But in 2015, increased pressure from residents has for the first time unified Northern Colorado groups working to pool resources and design projects.

The idea is that Northern Colorado projects will be ready and rise above the other Colorado groups looking to cash in should federal or state money become available.

Construction projects to begin widening I-25's Northern Colorado pinch points start in spring, offering new hope that the interstate will be expanded to three lanes of travel in each direction by no later than 2035. ...

If no additional funding or grants become available, budget restrictions prevent CDOT from completing the $1.2 billion widening project until 2075. CDOT is, however, planning for the future.

A couple of construction projects starting next year will improve existing north I-25 infrastructure to accommodate three lanes whenever they are built.

At Crossroads Boulevard in north Loveland, crews will expand the overpass to accommodate additional lanes and level the southbound and northbound lanes. The roughly $30 million project will take two years to complete.

In spring 2016, CDOT will build a $9.5 million climbing lane at Berthoud Hill, giving southbound commuters a third lane for a 2-mile stretch that often causes congestion.

Earlier this month, the public learned about the Fix Colorado Roads Act, an initiative that seeks to funnel $3.5 billion in state general fund money into road and bridges projects across the state. The goal is to find a permanent source of money to couple with a small portion of CDOT's budget to fund the $3.5 billion bond program.

If passed by the Legislature, the Fix Colorado Roads Act would be referred to the November 2016 ballot.

A similar measure failed Legislature last year, but proponents believe they have more bipartisan backing and a wider coalition this time around.

If approved, north I-25, along with south I-25 and Interstate 70, are areas of priority for funding. ...

CDOT requested $90 million in improvements for bridges over the Poudre, Big Thompson, Little Thompson and St. Vrain rivers to enhance flood flow capacity of the bridges and widen them to support three lanes in each direction.

If approved, bridge construction would start in spring 2017 with construction to be completed by 2019. The projects could receive any portion of the $90 million ask. The Poudre River bridge has been identified by CDOT as the top priority among the four bridges. The group hopes to hear if, or how much, of the grant it receives by mid-January.

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2016/01/22/north--25-funding-takes-huge-hit-failed-grant-bid/79164336/

Northern Colorado motorists' hopes for clearer travel took a blow with Thursday's announcement that Colorado will not receive federal funding to widen bridges and pave the way for additional lanes of north Interstate 25.

Colorado was one of 40 finalists competing nationally for a share of the $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition grant. The  U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced the 13 winners Thursday, leaving Colorado off the short list.

Grant funding would have been used for a number of projects in parts of Colorado most impacted by wildfires and flooding in recent years. I-25 was heavily damaged in 2013 where the Big Thompson River crosses under the interstate near Loveland.

http://www.reporterherald.com/news/loveland-local-news/ci_29424665/businesses-elected-boards-partner-i-25

Local leaders are continuing to put money behind their calls to action for Interstate 25 improvements – this time, it's the business community working with elected boards.

The Fix North I-25 Business Alliance is a coalition under the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, a consortium between the Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland Chambers of Commerce as well as Upstate Economic Development Commission.

The alliance was started, according to Loveland Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Mindy McCloughan, because I-25 improvements are essential to meet the demands of population and business growth in Northern Colorado.

"After the flood, we saw clearly that basically, it was a crystal ball into our future what the traffic count was going to be by 2025," McCloughan said, when traffic was directed to I-25 because of alternate routes closed after the flood. ...

The alliance was officially formed in 2015, McCloughan said, and initial funding was from area businesses, raising $117,000. Area businesses will continue to contribute, but the alliance sought funding for elected boards to supplement those efforts.

McCloughan said the Colorado Department of Transportation estimate of $1.3 billion just to add a third lane on the highway is in today's dollars, and continuing to wait for CDOT to have enough money is not an option.

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2016/01/18/officials-question-front-range-light-rail-petition/78656320/

An online petition calling on a score of state legislators to take action on building a light rail line from Fort Collins to Denver has gained hundreds of supporters, but the named public officials say the petition fails to offer realistic solutions to a complicated issue.

As of Friday, the petition on Change.org, launched a month ago, has attracted 258 signatures. The petition names every member of House Transportation and Energy Committee, Senate Transportation Committee and the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The author of the petition, Ariel Mays-Lewis, did not respond to requests for comment. On the page, she wrote that light rail along the north Front Range "would decrease traffic on the surrounding roadways, cost less than expanding I-25, and lower carbon dioxide emissions."

Some state officials named in the petition noted a number of flaws in the page's argument. Also, the site does not offer suggestions on where the state would acquire the $1.2 billion needed to a build the commuter rail. While the petition talks about light rail, which includes electric-powered trains, the rail system envisioned by the Colorado Department of Transportation to run from Fort Collins to Denver is a commuter rail, generally powered by diesel trains. ...

CDOT spokesman Jared Fiel noted the petition's failure to identify a source of funds and that public opinion is divided on whether building commuter rail or widening the interstate is more worth the $1.2 billion price tag.

CDOT has conducted a number of studies on a commuter rail but gives no timeline or plan of action. Essentially, the studies determined what it would take and what it would cost if, or when, there's concrete funding and plans to build it.

"If the idea is to take the money away from the expansion of I-25," Fiel said, "I'm sure there would be a lot of people who would not be in favor of that."

But there won't be one lump sum of a billion dollars that the state will acquire and then be forced to choose which project to pursue. Smaller construction projects are currently being done on I-25 to prepare the interstate for when it is eventually widened, which CDOT has set as a goal 2035. This spring, a climbing lane will be built on southbound I-25 at Berthoud Hill, south of the Colorado Highway 56 interchange, for $9.5 million and the Crossroads overpass will be expanded to accommodate more lanes for $30 million.

[andy3175]

http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_28259253/colorado-highways-stuck-neutral

Before Don Hunt left his post as chief of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) early this year, he told The Denver Post that one of the most difficult challenges facing the state from a funding perspective was the expansion of Interstate 25 to six lanes along a 25-mile stretch north of Denver near Fort Collins.

"We have [a plan]," Hunt said, "but it costs $1 billion. It's an unfunded plan. We have $35 million for a billion-dollar project."

This is a project that even people generally skeptical of highway expansion should favor – since there is no real alternative to I-25 along the Front Range. And it is growing population, not more individual driving, that has produced time-devouring congestion.

That segment of I-25 is hardly the only stretch of highway that needs improvement simply to keep up with population growth. For example, although CDOT has pulled several rabbits from its hat to improve the I-70 mountain corridor, much more needs to be done there.

Unfortunately, the recent legislative session failed to produce a plan to do something about highway funding.

[mrose]

Should probably be six lanes all the way to the Wyoming border.

[sipes23]

Should probably be six lanes all the way to the Wyoming border.

Maybe even south of I-80. I dread going to Denver.

[mrose]

I'm very happy that I rarely have to drive through it these days.

[Plutonic Panda]

Well they got a 501 million dollar loan. You guessed it, the proposal is to add an express lane.

https://denvergazette.com/news/cdot-express-lane-loan-i25/article_7acc92ee-3602-11ee-89ec-a3099c2eb054.html

[Great Lakes Roads]

Well they got a 501 million dollar loan. You guessed it, the proposal is to add an express lane.

https://denvergazette.com/news/cdot-express-lane-loan-i25/article_7acc92ee-3602-11ee-89ec-a3099c2eb054.html

I am NOT surprised that CDOT is adding a toll lane in each direction! This is CDOT's way of adding lanes...

[Plutonic Panda]

Well they got a 501 million dollar loan. You guessed it, the proposal is to add an express lane.

https://denvergazette.com/news/cdot-express-lane-loan-i25/article_7acc92ee-3602-11ee-89ec-a3099c2eb054.html

I am NOT surprised that CDOT is adding a toll lane in each direction! This is CDOT's way of adding lanes...

It's absolutely retarded. If it were two tolls lanes each way I'd be more supportive. But one just sucks in any setup because it takes one asshole to go slow and screw up the lane for everyone else. I can see reasoning for toll lanes in the mountains where it's more expensive to build not on the front range. Especially north of Denver.

[Bobby5280]

A week ago I drove on the recently widened section of I-25 between Colorado Springs and Denver. I was not so impressed with the modest configuration of 2 free lanes and 1 toll lane in each direction (from Castle Rock on Southward). There is so much traffic on that stretch of I-25 it should be 8 lanes wide (preferably all free).

[US 89]

Colorado's refusal to add any sort of non-toll capacity anymore, anywhere, is nothing short of astounding. Their DOT has clearly been taken over by the more extreme environmentalist wing that seems to have set up shop in Denver. Apparently if we don't do anything to improve congestion it will encourage people to use transit and lower emissions. Never mind that said transit generally does not exist in a reliable, fast, or useful form (not yet, at least) and that cars in traffic congestion emit more CO2 in total than when traffic flows. So we "compromise"  by only fixing congestion for the rich, a demographic that often matches up well with this type of environmentalist in Colorado. The irony that this regressive system is generally pushed by so-called "progressives"  is not lost on me.

I can maybe see arguments for not messing too much with I-70 in the mountains, but there is absolutely no reason I-25 shouldn't be 3 free lanes each way from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs. Utah next door managed to six lane I-15 throughout the Wasatch Front from Brigham City to Santaquin, an urban corridor with maybe a bit more than half the population of the Front Range corridor. Analogous to this particular Fort Collins-Longmont section would be the section of 15 between Farr West and Brigham City, which got its 6 lane widening around 8 years ago. That worked wonders for traffic up there.

[zzcarp]

Colorado's refusal to add any sort of non-toll capacity anymore, anywhere, is nothing short of astounding. Their DOT has clearly been taken over by the more extreme environmentalist wing that seems to have set up shop in Denver. Apparently if we don't do anything to improve congestion it will encourage people to use transit and lower emissions. Never mind that said transit generally does not exist in a reliable, fast, or useful form (not yet, at least) and that cars in traffic congestion emit more CO2 in total than when traffic flows. So we "compromise"  by only fixing congestion for the rich, a demographic that often matches up well with this type of environmentalist in Colorado. The irony that this regressive system is generally pushed by so-called "progressives"  is not lost on me.

I can maybe see arguments for not messing too much with I-70 in the mountains, but there is absolutely no reason I-25 shouldn't be 3 free lanes each way from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs. Utah next door managed to six lane I-15 throughout the Wasatch Front from Brigham City to Santaquin, an urban corridor with maybe a bit more than half the population of the Front Range corridor. Analogous to this particular Fort Collins-Longmont section would be the section of 15 between Farr West and Brigham City, which got its 6 lane widening around 8 years ago. That worked wonders for traffic up there.

Correct, there is a pro-pollution element masquerading as pro-environment. I've worked to keep car-hating language out of my city's comprehensive plan, but CDOT and DRCOG are decidedly anti-transportation and anti-mobility. And with politics the way they are in our state (I won't get into them as it is somewhat nuanced as well that subject is against the rules of this forum), things will remain this way for some time.

[Bobby5280]

Aside from the politics involved, this regressive "strategy" on highways in Colorado simply ignores the stark reality of living in cities along the Front Range: everyone needs a motor vehicle to get around there.

Cities from Pueblo on up past Fort Collins are very spread out. My parents live outside the Black Forest area in Colorado Springs. Lots of new homes are getting built out there. But my parents still have to drive over 10 miles to Falcon to visit the nearest grocery store. I'm always amazed by just how much driving I have to do every time I visit up there.

It's just absurd for anyone to think millions of people in the Front Range region can all park their cars and just take up riding city buses, light rail trains and riding bicycles. We all know how insane the costs are for building any kind of passenger rail service in the US. Hell, even a freaking street trolley car setup can cost crazy amounts of money. Bus service doesn't require much new infrastructure to be built, but it still loses lots of money and has to be subsidized by taxpayers. As spread out as many places are along the Front Range there is no practical way for bus routes to cover it all.

Did I mention the weather in Colorado can be downright hostile about 8 months out of the year? Riding a bicycle may be pleasant in sunny, 70 degree weather during the Summer. How about pedaling into a fierce head-wind with temperatures in the teens? It's not real easy to ride a bike on ice or in deep snow.

Out of touch "progressives" are one faction pushing this anti-roads nonsense. But I believe real estate developers and other business people are also helping along these anti-roads efforts for more selfish, sinister reasons. They're trying to play a long game of forcing more people to live in urban centers where available living space is at a minimum. The idea is price-gouging people to spend even higher percentages of their incomes on housing.

The primary reason why suburbs exist is housing cost. Historically, people have moved farther and farther away from city centers in order to find good housing at more affordable prices. "White flight" has been a factor in some locations (such as Detroit), but housing costs are still the biggest thing driving suburban sprawl. The Front Range region is very sprawling.

[JayhawkCO]

Did I mention the weather in Colorado can be downright hostile about 8 months out of the year?

Since most of your discussion pertained to the Front Range, this part of Colorado has some of the least hostile weather in the country.

[Bobby5280]

Least hostile weather? I don't agree with that at all.

Last Summer I visited my parents around Labor Day. It snowed several inches at their house while it was still technically Summer. Just this past weekend, a few hours after I passed through the intersection of US-24 and Marksheffel Road a freaking tornado touched down there.

I prefer visiting Colorado during the Summer months, partly because it gives me a short break from the 100-plus degree heat here in Oklahoma. Every time I drive up there during the holidays it's bitterly cold. The late Fall and early Spring time frame can bring hellish blizzards that are life threatening. This isn't the kind of weather that's friendly to waiting at a bus stop or pedaling a bicycle. When a bad snow storm is on its way most people need to stock up on supplies. It's a lot easier doing that using a personal vehicle than trying to carry bags of stuff onto a city bus. Wearing a backpack while riding a bicycle is an even worse bet.

[zzcarp]

Colorado's weather on the front range may have its extremes, but it is much more hospitable than the Midwest. The Labor Day snow in 2021 was a fluke. Most of the time we don't have snow on the front range until October-I can't think of another recent September snowstorm below the mountains. Even the bitter cold is easier to handle than east of us. I'd say easily that 0 degrees in Denver feels warmer than 20 degrees in Cleveland. And it rarely lasts long.

[Plutonic Panda]

Did I mention the weather in Colorado can be downright hostile about 8 months out of the year?

Since most of your discussion pertained to the Front Range, this part of Colorado has some of the least hostile weather in the country.

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

[Rothman]

Did I mention the weather in Colorado can be downright hostile about 8 months out of the year?

Since most of your discussion pertained to the Front Range, this part of Colorado has some of the least hostile weather in the country.

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

Hail storms come to mind.

[StogieGuy7]

Weather along the Front Range can be some of the most extreme of any heavily inhabited place on Earth. I say "can be". It can also be very pleasant. But it is subject to radical swings in temperature, severe spring storms that feature strong winds, hail and even tornados. Winter weather that can vary from 60 F down to -20 F within 24 hours. Chinook winds that blow things over in January.  I know all this because I had the pleasure of living in the Colo Spgs area back in the 90s. Gorgeous city, but the weather is only hospitable until it's absolutely not. If you want "hospitable" weather, San Diego is your best bet.

Oh, and as for the I-25 issue north of Longmont, I am shocked that this POS is still only 4 lanes! It needed to be widened in 1995 for cryin' out loud. This is third world country kind of stuff and CoDOT should be embarassed. However, considering current management, they're probably proud of themselves.

[JayhawkCO]

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

I mean, please keep repeating that narrative so less people keep moving here, but you're 100% wrong. It rarely gets very cold here. It rarely gets very hot here. There is very little humidity here. We rarely have big rain storms here. We get more than 2" of snow maybe 5-6 times a year here. And when we do, it's normally powder, so easy to shovel. There are very, very few tornadoes here. (Again, talking about Front Range specifically. Eastern Colorado gets whacked.) We have more sunny days than San Diego. Even when it's warm during the day, it cools off nicely at night. It's not very windy in most of the places on the Front Range (Monument Hill I know is pretty windy).

Yes, there is an occasional hail storm. Yes, every two years or so we get dumped on with a big snow storm in the spring. But those are isolated incidents. This is much preferable to the constant storms you get in the South, the constant grey days of the Midwest, Northwest, and Northeast, the tornado threats of the Midwest and South, the wet snowstorms of the Midwest and Northeast, etc.

Even if you're a Floridian or Texan who only likes warm weather and thinks storms are still in the realm of "nice weather", I don't see how anyone can make the case that the Front Range has some of the worst weather in the country. I'll happily nominate Missoula, Rapid City, Houston, Kansas City, or Buffalo for the honor.

Honestly, there are lot of bad takes on this site, but this is one of the worst.

[StogieGuy7]

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

I mean, please keep repeating that narrative so less people keep moving here, but you're 100% wrong. It rarely gets very cold here. It rarely gets very hot here. There is very little humidity here. We rarely have big rain storms here. We get more than 2" of snow maybe 5-6 times a year here. And when we do, it's normally powder, so easy to shovel. There are very, very few tornadoes here. (Again, talking about Front Range specifically. Eastern Colorado gets whacked.) We have more sunny days than San Diego. Even when it's warm during the day, it cools off nicely at night. It's not very windy in most of the places on the Front Range (Monument Hill I know is pretty windy).

Yes, there is an occasional hail storm. Yes, every two years or so we get dumped on with a big snow storm in the spring. But those are isolated incidents. This is much preferable to the constant storms you get in the South, the constant grey days of the Midwest, Northwest, and Northeast, the tornado threats of the Midwest and South, the wet snowstorms of the Midwest and Northeast, etc.

Even if you're a Floridian or Texan who only likes warm weather and thinks storms are still in the realm of "nice weather", I don't see how anyone can make the case that the Front Range has some of the worst weather in the country. I'll happily nominate Missoula, Rapid City, Houston, Kansas City, or Buffalo for the honor.

Honestly, there are lot of bad takes on this site, but this is one of the worst.

OK, this is BS. On average, Denver gets 56 inches of snow per year. That's hardly the 2" once in great while that you're trying to sell - perhaps you're confused with Albuquerque on this one. It does get quite hot during July/August on the Front Range and 100 degree temperatures are not uncommon. Particularly from Denver to Ft. Collins and even more so in the Arkansas Valley (Canon City, Pueblo, etc). And, while it can be 60 degrees in January, I'll never forget when we had the temperature drop by about 50 degrees from the 30's to the -20s following 12" of snow in December 1991. This happens on most years at some point, however, On that occasion, we reached -24 in the Springs.

Is it a worse climate than, say, Milwaukee or Cleveland? Not a chance.  But it has it's own challenges, mainly from being so very changeable and somewhat unpredictable from week to week, It's not somewhere that I'd want to be living in a tent, I'll put it that way.

[JayhawkCO]

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

I mean, please keep repeating that narrative so less people keep moving here, but you're 100% wrong. It rarely gets very cold here. It rarely gets very hot here. There is very little humidity here. We rarely have big rain storms here. We get more than 2" of snow maybe 5-6 times a year here. And when we do, it's normally powder, so easy to shovel. There are very, very few tornadoes here. (Again, talking about Front Range specifically. Eastern Colorado gets whacked.) We have more sunny days than San Diego. Even when it's warm during the day, it cools off nicely at night. It's not very windy in most of the places on the Front Range (Monument Hill I know is pretty windy).

Yes, there is an occasional hail storm. Yes, every two years or so we get dumped on with a big snow storm in the spring. But those are isolated incidents. This is much preferable to the constant storms you get in the South, the constant grey days of the Midwest, Northwest, and Northeast, the tornado threats of the Midwest and South, the wet snowstorms of the Midwest and Northeast, etc.

Even if you're a Floridian or Texan who only likes warm weather and thinks storms are still in the realm of "nice weather", I don't see how anyone can make the case that the Front Range has some of the worst weather in the country. I'll happily nominate Missoula, Rapid City, Houston, Kansas City, or Buffalo for the honor.

Honestly, there are lot of bad takes on this site, but this is one of the worst.

OK, this is BS. On average, Denver gets 56 inches of snow per year. That's hardly the 2" once in great while that you're trying to sell - perhaps you're confused with Albuquerque on this one. It does get quite hot during July/August on the Front Range and 100 degree temperatures are not uncommon. Particularly from Denver to Ft. Collins and even more so in the Arkansas Valley (Canon City, Pueblo, etc). And, while it can be 60 degrees in January, I'll never forget when we had the temperature drop by about 50 degrees from the 30's to the -20s following 12" of snow in December 1991. This happens on most years at some point, however, On that occasion, we reached -24 in the Springs.

Is it a worse climate than, say, Milwaukee or Cleveland? Not a chance.  But it has it's own challenges, mainly from being so very changeable and somewhat unpredictable from week to week, It's not somewhere that I'd want to be living in a tent, I'll put it that way.

You realize I live here, right? And I actually experience this weather?

I just pulled data for Thornton (it was one of the first Google results) here, and this year, which was a very snowy year, Thornton had 9 days of 2" or more snow. The 2021-22 winter had 7 days. So, my statement of 5-6 is maybe a touch low. I'll amend to 6-7. Sound good?

We have had zero 100° days this year. So when you say 100° days are not uncommon, based on what?

Yeah, the weather changes quickly here. That does not make the weather bad. I like some variation.

And I camp 15-20 nights a year in the mountains, which do have much "worse" weather than the Front Range, and I survive just fine.

AARoads - the website you come to if you feel like having people tell you that your daily reality is incorrect.

[Rothman]

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

I mean, please keep repeating that narrative so less people keep moving here, but you're 100% wrong. It rarely gets very cold here. It rarely gets very hot here. There is very little humidity here. We rarely have big rain storms here. We get more than 2" of snow maybe 5-6 times a year here. And when we do, it's normally powder, so easy to shovel. There are very, very few tornadoes here. (Again, talking about Front Range specifically. Eastern Colorado gets whacked.) We have more sunny days than San Diego. Even when it's warm during the day, it cools off nicely at night. It's not very windy in most of the places on the Front Range (Monument Hill I know is pretty windy).

Yes, there is an occasional hail storm. Yes, every two years or so we get dumped on with a big snow storm in the spring. But those are isolated incidents. This is much preferable to the constant storms you get in the South, the constant grey days of the Midwest, Northwest, and Northeast, the tornado threats of the Midwest and South, the wet snowstorms of the Midwest and Northeast, etc.

Even if you're a Floridian or Texan who only likes warm weather and thinks storms are still in the realm of "nice weather", I don't see how anyone can make the case that the Front Range has some of the worst weather in the country. I'll happily nominate Missoula, Rapid City, Houston, Kansas City, or Buffalo for the honor.

Honestly, there are lot of bad takes on this site, but this is one of the worst.

OK, this is BS. On average, Denver gets 56 inches of snow per year. That's hardly the 2" once in great while that you're trying to sell - perhaps you're confused with Albuquerque on this one. It does get quite hot during July/August on the Front Range and 100 degree temperatures are not uncommon. Particularly from Denver to Ft. Collins and even more so in the Arkansas Valley (Canon City, Pueblo, etc). And, while it can be 60 degrees in January, I'll never forget when we had the temperature drop by about 50 degrees from the 30's to the -20s following 12" of snow in December 1991. This happens on most years at some point, however, On that occasion, we reached -24 in the Springs.

Is it a worse climate than, say, Milwaukee or Cleveland? Not a chance.  But it has it's own challenges, mainly from being so very changeable and somewhat unpredictable from week to week, It's not somewhere that I'd want to be living in a tent, I'll put it that way.

You realize I live here, right? And I actually experience this weather?

I just pulled data for Thornton (it was one of the first Google results) here, and this year, which was a very snowy year, Thornton had 9 days of 2" or more snow. The 2021-22 winter had 7 days. So, my statement of 5-6 is maybe a touch low. I'll amend to 6-7. Sound good?

We have had zero 100° days this year. So when you say 100° days are not uncommon, based on what?

Yeah, the weather changes quickly here. That does not make the weather bad. I like some variation.

And I camp 15-20 nights a year in the mountains, which do have much "worse" weather than the Front Range, and I survive just fine.

AARoads - the website you come to if you feel like having people tell you that your daily reality is incorrect.

The data for Denver does say 56 inches on average, with Thornton being around that much, so this may be a case of personal bias coming into play.

[JayhawkCO]

The data for Denver does say 56 inches on average, with Thornton being around that much, so this may be a case of personal bias coming into play.

Just to make sure I understand, you mean on my part or on StogieGuy7's?

[Bobby5280]

Hail storms come to mind.

Oh, yeah. One of my parents' vehicles has been stuck in the shop for over 2 months thanks to hail. My dad got in a minor fender bender. The repair shop left their Grand Cherokee out in the lot for several days rather than do the repair when they said they would. A big hail storm hit and caused a whole lot more damage to my parents' vehicle than the fender bender did. The facility is apparently a Keystone Cops operation. They broke one of the side windows while trying to repair hail dents. Hence more parts orders and delays.

Oklahoma is famous for bad hail too. I'm having a real fun time trying to get damage to my house and pickup repaired from the hail storm that stomped on Lawton June 15. Some of the body shops and roofing companies have backlogs going out over 2 years.

Weather along the Front Range can be some of the most extreme of any heavily inhabited place on Earth. I say "can be". It can also be very pleasant.

That's why I prefer visiting during the Summer. Tornadoes and big hail can be a threat. But it's not too common. The winters are what I really don't like. Any time when the temperature gets into the single digits or (on rare occasions) below zero here in Lawton it's going to be 20 below zero or worse at my parent's home. They're not up in the mountains either. They're outside the Black Forest NE of Colorado Springs. Their home is at 7000' elevation, which is part of the problem though.

I don't live in Colorado, but I've been visiting the Colorado Springs area on a regular basis since the mid 1990's when my parents moved there. The weather can often be beautiful. But that can change quickly. My parents don't get anywhere near as much snow at their house as a lake effect prone location in Ohio or Upstate New York. But a blizzard can dump 2 or 3 feet of snow on them in one instance. Those kinds of storms are life threatening.

Oh, and as for the I-25 issue north of Longmont, I am shocked that this POS is still only 4 lanes! It needed to be widened in 1995 for cryin' out loud. This is third world country kind of stuff and CoDOT should be embarrassed. However, considering current management, they're probably proud of themselves.

When I drove on that part of I-25 a couple weeks ago I had a reaction almost as bad as the first time I saw the finished Rogers Lane here in Lawton back in 1993. Exasperated, I was muttering, "what the **** is this shit?"

CDOT had I-25 between Colorado Springs and Castle Rock badly tore up for some time. For all that pain the public ends up with 2 free lanes and 1 toll lane? JFC!

[StogieGuy7]

Are you smoking crack? Front range weather is some of the worst in the entire country.

I mean, please keep repeating that narrative so less people keep moving here, but you're 100% wrong. It rarely gets very cold here. It rarely gets very hot here. There is very little humidity here. We rarely have big rain storms here. We get more than 2" of snow maybe 5-6 times a year here. And when we do, it's normally powder, so easy to shovel. There are very, very few tornadoes here. (Again, talking about Front Range specifically. Eastern Colorado gets whacked.) We have more sunny days than San Diego. Even when it's warm during the day, it cools off nicely at night. It's not very windy in most of the places on the Front Range (Monument Hill I know is pretty windy).

Yes, there is an occasional hail storm. Yes, every two years or so we get dumped on with a big snow storm in the spring. But those are isolated incidents. This is much preferable to the constant storms you get in the South, the constant grey days of the Midwest, Northwest, and Northeast, the tornado threats of the Midwest and South, the wet snowstorms of the Midwest and Northeast, etc.

Even if you're a Floridian or Texan who only likes warm weather and thinks storms are still in the realm of "nice weather", I don't see how anyone can make the case that the Front Range has some of the worst weather in the country. I'll happily nominate Missoula, Rapid City, Houston, Kansas City, or Buffalo for the honor.

Honestly, there are lot of bad takes on this site, but this is one of the worst.

OK, this is BS. On average, Denver gets 56 inches of snow per year. That's hardly the 2" once in great while that you're trying to sell - perhaps you're confused with Albuquerque on this one. It does get quite hot during July/August on the Front Range and 100 degree temperatures are not uncommon. Particularly from Denver to Ft. Collins and even more so in the Arkansas Valley (Canon City, Pueblo, etc). And, while it can be 60 degrees in January, I'll never forget when we had the temperature drop by about 50 degrees from the 30's to the -20s following 12" of snow in December 1991. This happens on most years at some point, however, On that occasion, we reached -24 in the

Is it a worse climate than, say, Milwaukee or Cleveland? Not a chance.  But it has it's own challenges, mainly from being so very changeable and somewhat unpredictable from week to week, It's not somewhere that I'd want to be living in a tent, I'll put it that way.

You realize I live here, right? And I actually experience this weather?

I just pulled data for Thornton (it was one of the first Google results) here, and this year, which was a very snowy year, Thornton had 9 days of 2" or more snow. The 2021-22 winter had 7 days. So, my statement of 5-6 is maybe a touch low. I'll amend to 6-7. Sound good?

We have had zero 100° days this year. So when you say 100° days are not uncommon, based on what?

Yeah, the weather changes quickly here. That does not make the weather bad. I like some variation.

And I camp 15-20 nights a year in the mountains, which do have much "worse" weather than the Front Range, and I survive just fine.

AARoads - the website you come to if you feel like having people tell you that your daily reality is incorrect.

Well, I worked for a TV station in Colorado Springs.  As a meterologist.  So, yeah, I understand your reality better than you think. Have seen snow on Oct 15 and May 8th as well as 70 degrees in December. It's not a bad climate, but it's hardly the mildest. You usually have a 120 F range of temperatures during the course of a year.  Just because you have not had a 100 degree day this year doesn't mean that they never happen. This year has not been typical, with the worst of the heat generally trapped south of the CO/NM border and/or west of the divide (SLC had several 100+ days).

BTW: DIA averages 2 100+ degree days per year. Places like Fort Collins and Greeley are more like 3 or 4; Pueblo has an average of 12 per year. It depends where you are on the Front Range, but it can get very hot. Mostly based on altitude, so worse north and east of Denver, then south of Colorado Springs (Fountain, really).