11:43 am, Dec 28, 2009
By now, thousands of skiers should have enjoyed cozy rides to Winter Park ski resort on the historic "Ski Train," which was recently saved from going out of business. Now, Amtrak has stalled---or stopped---the train again, writes The Denver Post, which dubs Amtrak a "killjoy."
When the Rio Grande Scenic ski train didn't leave Union Station for... MORE
11:56 am, Dec 18, 2009
Those sleek, WiFi-wired buses that travel between Colorado Springs and Denver are in trouble. As the Colorado Springs Gazette notes, the FrontRange Express, or FREX, was "tossed a lifesaver Thursday after nearly drowning in the flood of city budget cuts."
The Colorado Department of Transportation's State Transportation Commission unanimously... MORE
11:10 am, Dec 3, 2009
There was just enough snow yesterday to make the morning commute a "giant mess," as Fox 31 reported. Contributing to the problem: 20 percent of Denver's roadways are considered congested. But that's not as bad as it sounds---comparatively speaking.
Of 30 U.S. metro areas, the Mile High City is among the least congested, according to a report by... MORE
10:58 am, Nov 30, 2009
If you live in the north metro-Denver area, chances are that you won't benefit from the Regional Transportation District's FasTracks rail program---unless RTD makes drastic changes to approaching the project, according to a new report (via The Denver Post).
The report by BBC Research & Consulting, which was prepared for the North Area... MORE
12:03 pm, Oct 13, 2009
In 2004, voters approved a 0.4 percent metro-area sales tax to complete the ambitious FasTracks commuter-rail expansion. The entire price tag for a comprehensive rail system, voters were told, would be $4.7 billion.
Now, five years later, estimated construction costs have soared---and at a time when sales-tax collections are sagging. The Regional... MORE
10:22 am, Oct 2, 2009
The Colorado Department of Transportation has lost $114.7 million, which would have helped build roads and fund bridge projects.
That represents a quarter of the transportation funding the state would get from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is "absolutely devastating to our highway program" says Tony Milo, president of the... MORE
11:20 am, Sep 8, 2009
The Federal Railroad Administration has already identified 10 high-speed rail corridors throughout the United States, and that means the feds are planning to spend tens of billions of dollars on projects on the East and West coasts. But in the mountainous West, including Denver, it's possible that not one of those trains would pass through.
Still... MORE
12:05 pm, Aug 25, 2009
In April, after 69 years, the Ski Train that traveled from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park was purchased from the Anschutz Co. for an undisclosed amount by a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway Co. The train never seemed to be a money-maker, but a new group may step in with a new business plan this season.
According to a recent... MORE
9:59 am, Jul 10, 2009
Yesterday Governor Bill Ritter said Colorado will join New Mexico and Texas in a plan that will create a high-speed rail line alongside I-25 between Denver and El Paso, Texas, linking the region's major cities.
It would be a coup, especially since Colorado was ignored when the Obama administration issued a preliminary list of 10 national rail... MORE
8:55 am, Jul 6, 2009
Just days after it was reported that Denver International Airport was planning to construct a rail station, dreams of turning the Front Range into a rail haven are turning into a nightmare. As outgoing Regional Transportation District General Manager Cal Marsella tells The Denver Post of the extensive FasTracks plan--first approved by voters in... MORE
1:35 pm, Jun 25, 2009
Editors' Choice: Caveau Wine Bar, 450 E. 17th Ave., 303-861-3747, caveauwinebar.com
With just 75 wines for the tasting, Caveau's list has a boutique, selected-just-for-you feel. Many of the offerings--Jax Y3 Sauvignon Blanc and Fiddlehead Fiddlestix Pinot Noir--are lesser known, yet all of them sate even the most refined palate. But what we love... MORE
8:21 am, Jun 11, 2009
The Slow Food Movement has finally hit bars--and margarita mix is quickly going the way of high-fructose corn syrup. Along with bottles of Tanqueray and Grey Goose, bartenders are lining up pitchers of freshly squeezed lime, lemon, and orange juices.
But pure juice is just a small taste of what the bar-fresh movement has turned up. Much more... MORE
9:48 am, Jun 4, 2009
In recent years, sake, like Prosecco and Cava, has joined the ranks of Champagne wannabes and gone bubbly. But of the alcoholic copycats, sake is the most distinct. Prosecco and Cava are simply traditional sparkling white wines from regions of the world other than Champagne, France. Bubbly sake, carbonated via a double-brewing process, is a new... MORE
11:57 am, May 29, 2009
Tonight, drop by Great Divide's Beer Release Party and celebrate the birth of two new brews: a chocolate, oak-aged yeti and a bold double wit. Though both are inspired by the same principle (pungent spices in traditional beers), the newbies have totally different personalities. The first blends cocoa, vanilla, and cayenne to spice up a rich... MORE
10:43 am, May 29, 2009
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the guy who also oversees the Forest Service, issued a directive yesterday reinstating a ban, which prohibits road building and logging on more than 58 million acres of remote wild land, that dates to the Clinton administration.
That's according to The Associated Press, which reports that the directive,... MORE
