DENVER — Here is a question — where does Denver's responsibility start and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) end along 6th Ave. just east of Interstate 25?
The answer I found is a little murky.
I received an email from a viewer, James, who alerted me to a large chunk of concrete that was knocked out of the center dividing wall on 6th Ave. just east of I-25 and to the large amount of debris encroaching on the left lane. He said he contacted CDOT and the agency told him this section of 6th Ave. is the responsibility of the City of Denver. He reached out to the city online reporting tool but the city wanted to have a photo to make a submission, and since James didn’t feel safe doing that, I did it for him.
After I took some pictures and video, I decided not to call the media representatives at first and only correspond with the city and state the way James did. I sent the picture and description of the problem to Denver and four days later the city got back to me saying please contact CDOT for assistance with this issue.
I used the CDOT on-line reporting tool, telling the agency what Denver said and where the problem is. CDOT got back to me three days later, saying CDOT coverage of 6th Ave., ends after Raritan, at mile marker 284.657. The damage, according to CDOT, is at mile marker 284.9, assuring me this actually belongs to Denver.
I again contacted Denver, adding the CDOT response and about four days later, I got a response back saying the City of Denver does not maintain state highways. Please contact CDOT for assistance with this issue.
After getting denied three times, I decided I needed to call my friend Nancy Kuhn, the communications director for Denver’s Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI). Nancy told me there are a couple parts to this issue and assured me it is now being worked in partnership with CDOT.
The first part, she says, is to remove the broken concrete and other debris. Kuhn said the city will request that CDOT helps with traffic control by providing a truck mounted attenuator that would be parked in the left lane to keep city workers safe during that removal. She said CDOT owns several of those trucks and the city does not.
Then comes the second part — repairing that section of concrete median. One of the complications, the city said, is the center divider is a continuously-poured barrier shared by both the city and state.
“It’s kind of like sharing a fence with someone – you’re going to talk to them before you do something to it. We’re not sure, but CDOT may also have easier access to resources to carry out that kind of median repair work as they own much more of this kind of barrier than the city. Either way, we’ll get it done,” Kuhn said.
Nancy told me at the end of the day, the city is taking responsibility for addressing the situation as it is within their purview.
“It just makes sense to coordinate with CDOT. Given the location - right on the border - I’m not surprised there was some confusion initially on our side, if there was. But when I mentioned the situation to the appropriate people in our street maintenance division, they jumped on it, in recognition of the safety concern,” Kuhn said.
Two days after I received the message from Nancy, I checked the area at 3:00 a.m. as I was driving into work and the chunks are still there.
