Past & Current Projects

Assessment of Colorado Department of Transportation Rest Areas for Sustainability Improvements and Facilities for Alternative Energy Resource Use

The functional and amenity expectations of rest areas by the public have substantially grown over the past decade. Meeting these expectations and increased safety concerns have resulted in the addition of features such as high intensity lighting, air conditioning, paving, and grassy areas. Maintaining and operating these features comes at increased environmental and economic costs. The first (rest area) purpose of the study is to assess sustainable rest area design and operations from a representative sample of rest areas in Colorado. In addition, recent federal energy policies have placed increased emphasis on strategies by federal agencies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The State of Colorado has also adopted GHG reduction policies, including the Governor’s 2007 Climate Action Plan which calls for a 20 percent reduction in GHG emissions from 2005 levels by 2020 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) maintains 9,144 linear miles of roadway right-of-way (ROW) and numerous other properties including rest areas, maintenance yards, remnant parcels and offices complexes. However, there is little data on the amount and locations of the ROW that is potentially suitable for alternative energy production. Lacking such data, CDOT cannot plan effectively to achieve federal GHG reduction goals or the Colorado Governor’s Energy Initiative. The second (right-of-way) purpose of this study is to address that gap in information about ROW for alternative energy production purposes.

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