When the two-phase expansion of U.S. Highway 36 between Denver and Boulder is finished in a few years, the roadway will be one of the "smartest" and most innovative in the country. The project, whose first phase is one-third complete, will provide four modes of travel in one place for the first time in Colorado—bus, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) and high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as well as a separate commuter bikeway next to the highway.
The multimodal, design-build U.S. 36 Express Lanes Project is estimated to cost more than $425 million. It is Colorado's first infrastructure project to provide the latest in 24/7 traffic management technology aimed at maximizing safety and minimizing congestion. The technology includes intelligent transportation systems for collecting tolling data and incident management and active traffic management, which employs multiple message signs next to the highway to inform drivers of traffic hazards, delays and weather conditions. The Regional Transportation District (RTD), one of the project's owners and the operator of public transit in the metro area, is studying whether it can add WiFi to buses and stations along the highway.