A waste of capacity on I-25

I drive for a living, mostly a very congested stretch of Interstate 25 between 120th and the Interstate 76 interchange. I was thrilled to see flowing traffic during the period when new lanes were finally opened up last year, before the toll lanes were actually put into place. As soon as the tolls went into effect the congestion resumed. The tolls range from $1 to $6.98 depending on the type of transponder used and the time of day. The stretch of road that is “express” only extends for about 6 miles.

Ridiculously inflated tolls do nothing to encourage drivers to use them, thus negating the purpose of high-occupancy vehicles to relieve traffic and reduce emissions. These highways are funded by our taxes, so what do these tolls fund and why are these lanes benefiting the wealthy commuters while the rest of us sit in traffic watching mostly empty express lanes go unused? Send letters of 150 words or fewer to openforum@denverpost.com or 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 800, Denver, CO, 80202. Please include full name, city and phone number. Contact us at 303-954-1331.