Telephone Town Hall Offering Citizens Forum to Talk Transportation in Eastern Colorado

April 3, 2014 - Northeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 4 - STERLING – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is hosting a telephone town hall next week for the residents of Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington and Yuma counties, providing them with an opportunity to ask questions and provide input about their regional transportation priorities.

On Thursday, April 10, at 7 p.m., citizens living in eastern and northeastern Colorado will be called at random through an automated system and invited to take part in the telephone forum.  Anyone who wants to participate but did not receive a call can dial in, toll-free, at 1-877-229-8493, PIN 112034. Those who choose to join the call will have the chance to express their thoughts and ask questions about transportation.  Participants also will be able to use their keypad to answer live polls.

“I’m looking forward to this conversation between CDOT and the users of its transportation system on the High Plains,” said Yuma County Commissioner and Chairman of the Eastern Transportation Planning Region Trent Bushner.  “Among other issues, we know residents of eastern and northeastern Colorado want to improve their pavement and shoulder conditions.  A telephone town hall is an innovative and convenient way for our citizens to have their voices heard as part of the transportation planning process.”

CDOT is hosting the telephone town halls for residents in all 64 counties through early June.  Coloradans are being encouraged to join the conversation and express their thoughts on how CDOT should focus its limited funding, discuss the link between transportation and the economy, and weigh in on regional priorities.

“My family has been in the farming and insurance businesses for generations in Phillips County.  With my tenure on the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce and the Haxtun Hospital District, I have seen first-hand the importance of a well-maintained transportation system in rural Colorado,” said Colorado Transportation Commissioner Stephen Hofmeister.”  “Farmers, ranchers and other rural Coloradoans depend on our road system to move crops and livestock to markets and to move services to and from rural towns.  I am most concerned about adequate highway maintenance. With such a small pot of dollars, we're forced to compete for our share.”