Those fretting over the death of the Front Range Express (FREX) bus system in 2012 will be pleased to hear that its reincarnation is slated to begin next year. The Colorado Department of Transportation says the new 13-bus Interregional Express (IX) line will make six round trips between Colorado Springs and Denver every weekday at an estimated $12 per ride ticket price. If all goes well, service could extend to Pueblo. Getting the new IX bus system up and running will cost around $10 million in the first year, then around $3 million a year after that, using revenue generated by vehicle registration fees and fines as per a the 2009 Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery Act (FASTER). Front Range commuters can now begin debating how to pronounce the abbreviation “IX.” Via the Gazette.
“Build it and they will come” was part of the logic behind legalizing recreational marijuana sales in 2012 – if we sell it, tourists will visit to buy it. But the extent to which pot tourism is actually a thing is hard to quantify, because state tourism offices won’t have a hand in it. Steve Raabe at the Denver Post takes a look at the possible legal weed boon for travel and tourism in Colorado.
“We didn’t sleep for a month,” Vista Ridge resident Joseph Zintel recalls, “this neighborhood had always been very quiet before they came.” The “they” in question is Encana Oil & Gas, which started drilling in the area in late November. Homeowners couldn’t stand the racket and filed several complaints with the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission. In response, the company ramped up its noise mitigation efforts, but to no avail. So last week it halted all drilling operations until it can figure out how to do it at a more reasonable decibel level. The prospect of resumed operations irks residents who don’t want to give up the peace and quiet they so enjoyed over the Christmas weekend. “The only thing I know is not to believe anything Encana says anymore,” Zintel told Joe Rubino at the Daily Camera.
A giant machine is boring a mile-long tunnel under I-25 south of downtown Colorado Springs in the final and most complicated step of building a pipeline that connects the Pueblo Reservoir to water treatment plant in northern Colorado Springs. This 50 mile stretch of the Southern Delivery System project – a 2010 Colorado Springs Utilities plan to accommodate for future growth and dwindling water supply – was paid for by customers through a series of rate increases and will carry millions of gallons of water. Via the Gazette.
