EISENHOWER TUNNEL, Colo.—Today Senator Joan Fitz-Gerald, former President of the Colorado State Senate and a candidate for the Second Congressional District spent the day on the campaign trail dedicated to transportation and I-70. She toured the Eisenhower Tunnel and attended a meeting of the I-70 Solutions coalition.

“Let’s get moving on I-70,” said Senator Fitz-Gerald. “A multi-modal solution for I-70 must be the next statewide transportation priority,”

Listen to the podcast on transportation at:
http://www.clickcaster.com/items/fitz-gerald--get-moving-on-i-70 [1]

In the podcast Senator Fitz-Gerald said:

We have two problems in creating solutions for I-70: priorities and resources. First, we must determine our priorities. We must embark on an aggressive planning process to determine what the preferred package of alternatives will be.

The second part of the problem, after we determine what the alternatives will be, is finding the resources to build it. In 2007, Colorado lost $7 billion in federal funding for critical needs like transportation because of other priorities.

I am opposed to any tolling along I-70 for highway widening alone. I applaud the work of the I-70 Coalition which is on the frontlines of forming practical multi-modal solutions. I-70 is not just a problem for Summit, Eagle, Gilpin, Grand or Clear Creek Counties, it is an economic and environmental issue for the whole state.

In Congress, as in the Colorado State Senate, I will be a leader on transportation issues. I will fight for additional resources for interstates and transit in the Transportation funding package (SAFETEA-LU) that will be before Congress in 2009.”