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Chelsea Self/Post Independent
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttegieg’s visit Friday morning to Glenwood Canyon triggered plenty of focus on how lawmakers can help prevent future disasters like 2020’s Grizzly Creek Fire — and the debris slides that followed in 2021.
Buttegieg joined senators John Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet and others in highlighting Pres. Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, said the country needs to use this new substantial funding package to build anew and in turn place less dependence on emergency response.
“That’s why there’s an emphasis on things like evacuation routes, ways to shore up and prevent damage to critical infrastructure that’s in this area,” he said. “And make sure that folks like the CDOT team have the assets and the resources they need to very quickly respond to anything that might be coming.”
The 32,631 acres consumed by 2020’s Grizzly Creek Fire and the ensuing catastrophic debris slides in 2021 caused significant damages to Interstate 70. This led Colorado Gov. Jared Polis initially requested at least $11.6million in federal aid to repair his house.
In Glenwood Canyon, there were constant surges of debris that blocked traffic from Interstate 70. This also caused delays or prevented traffic in summer and fall 2021. Many times motorists were forced to use two alternative routes — Cottonwood Pass toward the south, or Rabbit Ears Pass toward the north.
Shoshana Lee, Executive Director of Colorado Department of Transportation said that the state is currently considering possible options for emergency service use on Cottonwood Pass.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent
“The State Transportation Commission actually just approved some initial funding for survey work to determine whether right-of-way needs for the tight curves,” she said. “We will likely be seeking additional federal support, probably from some of the new resiliency programs to assist with that effort.”
Lew stated that the estimated pending expenses for Glenwood Canyon repairs total $24 million. These large costs are being paid by the Federal Highway Emergency Relief Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill that he worked so hard to get passed is going to have somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 billion in Colorado for roads and bridges and basic infrastructure that we’ve been trying to get for for a couple of generations,” Hickenlooper said.
Friday’s visit from federal and congressional leaders also prompted discussion on global warming and how that plays an effect on natural disasters.
Included with Biden’s infrastructure bill was Hickenlooper’s Recharge Act, an effort to make driving electric vehicles more affordable for users.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent
Buttigieg claimed that transportation is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gasses. This means that encouraging rural Colorado drivers could play a major role in finding solutions, not only to global warming mitigation but also to saving money by not using the gas pump as much.
“Even with transportation, we’re working on aviation and shipping, which are going to be harder to decarbonize than surface transportation,” Buttigieg said. “But if you add all of these pieces together, we can get this done. And the truth is, we have no alternative, because if we fail to get this done, the consequences are just unacceptable.”
Bennet would echo Buttigieg’s sentiment toward alternative solutions to fossil fuels. He said, however, such initial steps taken to lower emissions are right now “nowhere near where we need to get.”
“The fires that are happening here aren’t happening by accident, the mudslides aren’t happening by accident, the floods aren’t happening by accident,” he said. “This is a result of climate change, and it’s affecting our economy dramatically.”
Ray K. Erku is the reporter. He can be reached by calling 612-423-5273 [email protected]
