PROJECT DEFINITION
This project is one of two using a FY 2001 earmark. While the first of these is focused on the Colorado Transportation Management Center (CTMC), this project allows for the acceleration of ITS integration efforts along the I-70 mountain corridor west of Denver. The Colorado Transportation Commission has identified this stretch of highway as a priority corridor, and it has been the focus of intensive study over the past five years.

Most recently (December 2000), C.D.O.T. completed an Incident Management Plan (IMP) along I-70 from Denver to Utah. Many of the recommendations of the IMP require enhanced integration, communications, and information sharing along I-70. Not only does the IMP recommend better communication between C.D.O.T. and outside agencies along the corridor, but also between the three existing control centers along I-70. These three control centers are:

· CTMC in Lakewood
· Eisenhower Tunnel control facility near Dillon
· Hanging Lake Tunnel control facility in Glenwood Canyon

The three facilities combine to effectively manage traffic and disseminate traveler information along localized segments of the corridor, but the lack of communication between these hampers an integrated approach to overall traffic management and traveler information dissemination along I-70. Full integration of the three centers cannot be achieved during this project due to a combination of limited funding and impending control system upgrades at all three facilities. However, the initial I-70 activities included in this project should provide immediate assistance to C.D.O.T. in its efforts to manage the corridor and disseminate better information to motorists.

The I-70 West Integration Project integrates devices using a combination of the high-speed communications network and new low-speed communication networks and improvements to the C.D.O.T. web site to include additional and more detailed I-70 information. Other activities include permanent implementation of the I-70 probe vehicle network (an activity that was previously run in operational test mode) and a study to plan for a future center-to-center (C2C) interface with Denver International Airport (DIA). Many of these activities compliment and dovetail with existing task orders under the previous earmarks. For example, work on the CTMS project includes weather and automated traffic recorder (ATR) integration, statewide speed maps, kiosk deployment, and port of entry automation. C.D.O.T. intends to pursue the work under the I-70 West Integration Project to take advantage of economies of scale and overlaps between the two projects.