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Community Outreach
OverviewThe objective of the community outreach program is to solicit input through an open, dynamic process that includes as many of the residents, businesses, property owners, agencies, stakeholders, and community groups within the study area as possible. The process has been structured to involve people early and often, and to share information as it becomes available.
Community outreach for the I-70 East EIS has used a variety of techniques, including:
Community Outreach TechniquesWe have used a variety of techniques to ensure meaningful involvement from the community. The outreach process was designed to be personal and extensive It began at a one-on-one level and expanded to bring together the many interests in the corridor. A variety of opportunities have been made available for the community to get involved and stay informed about the project. These include:
Newsletters and Mailings
AdvertisingAdvertisements are placed in weekly newspapers, Denver daily newspapers, and other relevant local publications to announce meetings and other important study information. Look for ads in the Denver Post, El Seminario, El Hispano, Denver Urban Spectrum, Denver Weekly News, La Voz, and other local publications.
WebsiteThe project website is being used to disseminate information and provide a schedule of events. The site includes English and Spanish options and includes features such as an online feedback form, an automatic update e-mail distribution for when new information is posted, a location for media information, and technical documents or reports. The website is updated on a regular basis with the intent of providing real-time project information.
Meetings
Corridor-Wide and Neighborhood-Specific Meetings
Community Leaders MeetingsThe project team holds informal meetings monthly at locations in the corridor to answer questions and provide updates. Walk-ins are welcome at any time to talk to project team members, ask questions, express concerns, and provide comments. These meetings are held as open discussions and there are no presentations.
Telephone Town HallThe I-70 East EIS project team utilizes an innovative outreach technique to reach out to a large number of community members in the comfort of their homes. The telephone town hall technology allows the project team to contact thousands of phone numbers within the project area. Attendees are invited to listen to a live presentation on the project and ask questions from the project team members live or leave a voicemail to talk to them offline. Polling questions can also be designed and asked by the presenter. These help solicit input from the public on various issues by asking them to choose an answer by pressing a number on their phone.
The PACT ProcessDue to a lack of strong support for any of the 2008 DEIS alternatives, CDOT and FHWA initiated a collaborative process to identify a preferred alternative. The Preferred Alternative Collaborative Team (PACT) was formed in July 2010. Made up of a group of stakeholders representing federal and state agencies, local governments, and community and business interests, PACT conducted extensive deliberations—including two corridor-wide meetings. The PACT was unable to reach consensus on a preferred alternative. After the conclusion of the PACT process, the City and County of Denver initiated an outreach effort with several community work groups made up of more than 90 participants. This outreach developed a list of neighborhood goals and expectations to be integrated in CDOT's environment evaluation.
A summary of the meeting can be found on: Meeting Minutes
Working GroupThe Highway Working Group included members of all of the highway-related working groups (community impacts, interchanges, alternate routes, bike/pedestrian/open space, economic development, trucking/motor carriers) from the I-70 East project. The group discussed issues and approaches to various project concerns and was open to the public.
Committee MeetingsVarious agency committees had been meeting throughout the project prior to the 2008 Draft EIS to discuss issues and develop recommendations. Forums were provided at these committee meetings to hear community input.
Stakeholder MeetingsStakeholder meetings have been held on an as-needed basis and typically include property or business owners, business or homeowners associations, special interest groups, religious organizations, neighborhood associations, police/fire personnel, and others, as appropriate. These presentations typically are held at the group's regularly scheduled meeting, but can be specially arranged meetings.
Scoping SummaryScoping is a formal coordination process used to gain input on the extent of the project and the major issues that need to be addressed. In the scoping portion of the study, which is now complete, the project team met in over 50 scoping meetings with the community, stakeholders, and numerous government agencies to identify issues. Through these meetings, participants offered numerous ideas about transportation-related issues in the corridor. Major topic areas identified in scoping included:
Issues unrelated to the EIS that were brought up during the scoping process have been passed on to appropriate agencies. A summary of the community outreach and scoping process has been documented in a Scoping Report (Contact Us). ![]() | ![]() |
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