Medicare Monday is now an annual virtual event series from October 19 to November 18, 2020 with Medicare educational workshops to help you be better informed and make necessary changes to your coverage. The virtual program includes information on the changes, updates and requirements for Medicare Parts A, B, C and D. Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, 2020. Read more
As a parent who tries to bike as much as possible with my kids, I welcome the new bikeways that the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) is now delivering. I used to find it daunting to bike with my daughter the three miles to our local library’s Book Babies. Now, thanks to finding the right paths and the veritable godsend that are electric bikes, we routinely ride 40 miles for our daily commute. The prospect of a connected city-wide multimodal network opens up many more possibilities for us as a family and as residents of the city. Why isn’t this sentiment shared more broadly? Why have we seen a backlash against bike lanes, especially lately? To get some answers, I hit the books as well as the streets. Read more
DRCOG’s Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) met on Monday, October 5th. A briefing was provided on the 2020-2023 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Whitepaper. There was also a presentation on the 2019 ANNUAL REPORT ON ROADWAY TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN THE DENVER REGION. Of note were presentation results showing there was no regional daily Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) change from 2018. Weekday VMT per capita decreased from an estimated 25.7 to 25.4 miles per day. The 2040 Metro Vision Target is 23 VMT per Capita. The TAC was then given an update on the status of the fiscally constrained project and program investment priorities for the 2050 Metro Vision Regional Transportation Plan (2050 MVRTP). Projects were submitted through County Transportation Forums over the summer. The interagency group (DRCOG, CDOT, RTD) was meeting frequently to consider projects as well. Feedback on projects was obtained from DRCOG’s Civic Advisory and Youth Advisory Groups showing support for more bike/ped/transit options over road widening projects.
Next steps for 2050 MVRTP:
October 5 TAC
• Present status of developing fiscally constrained project and program investment priorities • Seeking
input from TAC to carry forward into the interagency process
Interagency Group Meetings
• Complete recommendations for draft fiscally constrained projects
October 26th TAC Meeting
• Consensus and endorsement of draft fiscally constrained investments
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Denver metro has had more alerts for fine particulate matter so far in 2020 than any full year in the last decade. Read more
While Republicans have raised alarms about the potential for fraud in mail balloting without finding much evidence and Democrats have focused on fighting any effort to suppress the vote, elections officials have come to accept that thousands of people may be disenfranchised in each mail ballot election when their valid votes are rejected and voters fail to fix them. Read more
