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Colorado - Mon. 03/02/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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WESTERN SLOPE LAWMAKER DRAFTS BILL TO ADDRESS DEADLY CRASHES
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Colorado Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, represents a Western Slope District that covers virtually all the central mountains: Grand, Summit, Eagle, Routt, Garfield, Gilpin, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Clear Creek counties. As a result of the deadly traffic accidents that occurred in 2025, Sen. Roberts introduced SB26-35, An Act Concerning an Increase of Traffic Violation Penalties. In hearings on the bill before the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee, officials from many mountain communities spoke in favor of the bill noting the roads in their part of Colorado are already hazardous, and speeding and reckless driving further imperils motorists.
The bill increases the penalties for illegally overtaking a vehicle on the left in a no-passing zone and clarifies that no-passing zones are indicated by a solid yellow line or pavement markings. Also, the bill increases the penalties for multiple speeding violations within a one-year, two-year, or five-year period. The bill requires that drivers who have multiple speeding violations within a one-year, two-year, or five-year period receive a summons and complaint upon committing their violation instead of a penalty assessment notice. The bill passed the committee on a 7-1 vote and goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee before the Senate floor.
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AFTER TWO YEARS, TOLLS COMING TO I-25 EXPRESS LANES - FT. COLLINS TO BERTHOUD
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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation has announced that tolls are coming to the 19-mile stretch on Interstate 25 which has express lanes added between Fort Collins and Berthoud. The tolls will begin April 7, and the toll rates will vary by time of day. The stretch of I-25 is broken into three segments, and the toll rates will vary by section. To begin, CDOT will have time-of-day fixed rates and will collect data for several months to create a dynamic price algorithm, which will adjust toll rates based on traffic volumes. CDOT initially planned to begin tolling in summer of 2024, but there were issues because of equipment delays and the coordination of anti-weaving technology. To see the tolling rates that will go into effect April 7, go to yahoo.com/news/articles/north-25-express-lane-tolling-183959255.html.
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THE LATEST HOTEL AMENITY IN COLORADO…A ROOM FULL OF GEAR
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Many guests arriving at a hotel in Colorado realize that they could really use some gear they didn’t pack or that was too big to pack…like a bicycle or a sled. An increasing number of hotels across the state are stocking rooms with recreational gear for use while folks are staying at the hotel, virtually everything from board games to GoPros; pickleball paddles to snowshoes; skateboards to Piaggio scooters. (All of those are available at the Halcyon Hotel in Cherry Creek, at no cost, just check out and return).
At resorts, there is ski gear as well as summer gear. The Hythe Hotel at the base of Vail Mountain has an “adventure locker,” with Helly Hansen ski jackets and snow pants, snowshoes, sleds, hiking poles, bikes, backpacks, yoga mats, and even telescopes for stargazing. The Inn at Riverwalk in Edwards has Specialized hybrid bikes, a Thule kid trailer, Atlas snowshoes in multiple sizes, a GoPro with attachments, as well as oversize lawn games like giant Jenga, Connect Four, ladder ball, and cornhole.
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COLORADO’S OWN “MOST LUXURIOUS (HIPPIE) SKI TOWN” IN A WSJ FEATURE ARTICLE
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Jim Carlton, a West Coast correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, based in San Francisco, who focuses on land-use policy and conflicts across the American West, offers a detailed, multi-page look at the ongoing drama in Telluride over the longtime owner of the Telluride Golf & Ski Resort, Chuck Horning, and those seeking to remove his control. The article, "America’s ‘Most Luxurious Ski Town’ Is Tearing Itself Apart," includes interviews with Horning; descriptions of the operations of the resort, including the ski patrol strike; the mounting resistance to his control (the "Chuck Chuck" movement); and the attempt to buy him out and subsequent investigation of officials of Telluride and Mountain Village.
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NO WINTER HERE, BUT ACROSS THE U.S. WINTER WAS DEADLY
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The three months of meteorological winter ended Sunday, Feb. 28, and although it was extremely mild across the Mountain West, with high temperatures and low snowfall, it was brutally cold and there was heavy wet snow that hammered the Northeast. The cold and snow claimed at least 150 lives in the U.S. in just 32 days. Hypothermia, snow shoveling, motor vehicle accidents and recreational activities were among the leading causes of death during the two big storms that blasted all or parts of the eastern U.S. There were three major events during which the majority of deaths occurred: the blizzard and wet snow from the Nor'easter off the Atlantic coast Feb. 22-25; the polar cold that blew across the eastern half of the country Jan. 23-27 during which at least 30 people died from hypothermia; and the one major storm in the West in February during which 13 people died over a six-day period due to avalanches.
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WHOLESALE PRICES INCREASE AT HIGHER-THAN-EXPECTED RATE IN JANUARY
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday reported the core producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent, more than the 0.6 percent gain in December and well ahead of the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 0.3 percent. For the full year, core wholesale prices accelerated 3.6 percent, while the headline index posted a 2.9 percent gain. Both figures are well ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent inflation goal and suggest that rising prices are still a factor for the U.S. economy. Services prices primarily drove the increase, with a 0.8 percent monthly rise that was the highest since July 2025. By contrast, goods prices actually fell 0.3 percent, though core goods prices climbed 0.7 percent.
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MESA COUNTY LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE DISPLAY OF VEHICLE CRASH INFORMATION
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The Mesa County Regional Transportation Planning Office plans and provides regional transportation services for all the communities in the county and has now gathered seven years of data on vehicle crashes and produced a user-friendly dashboard that displays the data. The interactive dashboard showcases data on every collision in the county, including each one’s causative factors, severity, types of vehicles involved, and, critically, location. It covers 17,100 accidents from 2018 through 2024.
Users can isolate the incidents displayed both by zooming in on specific neighborhoods, or by filtering the display based on the types of vehicles involved, the type of crash, the documented cause, and even the specific road, among countless other factors. In terms of accident locations, by far the most crashes were on Interstate 70, with 1,637; followed by North Avenue, with 1,215; and Patterson Road, with 1,104. North Avenue had the most rear-end collisions, with 539. The dashboard is available at mesacounty.us/move-safe-mesa-county.
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DURANGO CITY COUNCIL ALLOCATES $44,000 FOR ANIMAS RIVER SURF WAVE STUDY
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Last week, the Durango City Council approved a $44,000 feasibility study to analyze where a new surf wave could be optimally built along the Animas River in Durango. The nonprofit Animas River Surfers proposed the feasibility study and a partnership with the city to get it done. It raised $13,000 to contribute to the study. The Parks and Recreation department has received proposals from contractors to conduct the study. The chosen consultant will identify possible locations for a surf wave and narrow them down to one. The consultant will engage with commercial organizations and Animas River users during the study and evaluate possible locations for the surf wave and then provide a price/cost estimate for the best location.
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EAGLE COUNTY HAS WATER SHORTAGE PLAN IN PLACE, LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE NEEDED
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In April 2025, the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District and Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority boards approved a new water shortage response plan, which details the conditions that indicate a drought and how district staff should respond to it. That plan says that if the average measurement of the Vail, Copper and Fremont SNOTEL snow water equivalent sites is below 15 inches as of April 1, that is a warning level. If it is below 13 inches, the county can anticipate experiencing an "extreme drought" in the summer. As of Feb. 25, the identified SNOTEL sites had average readings of 6.9 inches.
According to David Norris of the district, officials are anticipating the snow water equivalent average between the three sites to be approximately 8 to 10 inches as of April 1, far below the drought indicator. The SNOTEL site measurements are just one factor out of four that the district uses to indicate drought. The water shortage response plan has five stages, ranging from prevention to declaration to emergency. Each stage is triggered by a different level of drought indicator, and each comes with its own financial consequence for customers using too much water.
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FAA: AIRLINES HAVE OVERSCHEDULED FLIGHTS AT CHICAGO O’HARE, MUST CUT BACK
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The Federal Aviation Administration Friday said major airlines have overscheduled flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport this summer and the agency will convene a meeting March 3 with the airlines to reduce the number of flights scheduled between March 29 and Oct. 25. The FAA said airlines have published schedules that show more than 3,080 daily operations on peak days this summer, compared with 2,680 daily operations last summer. The FAA said the "increase is significant and would stress the runway, terminal, and air traffic control systems." United has said it plans to operate 780 flights a day from Chicago O'Hare this month, up from the 541 flights on average it operated per day last year. American Airlines said in December it would add 100 additional daily departures to more than 75 destinations from O'Hare in time for spring-break travel, which is a 30 percent increase in spring departures compared to 2025.
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SOME UPDATES ON RECEIVING YOUR COLORADO STATE INCOME TAX REFUND
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The state of Colorado began receiving and processing income tax returns in late January.
- Colorado tax refunds typically take three to five weeks if you file electronically and request direct deposit, according to the Dept. of Revenue
- Paper returns and paper checks can take three months
- Colorado taxpayers can check the status of their refunds at tax.colorado.gov under "Where's My Refund?"
- You will need to enter your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number and the refund amount claimed on the income tax return
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DENVER ON TRACK FOR LOWEST SNOWFALL ON RECORD
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Following just a trace of snow in February, the snowfall so far this winter in Denver, September through February, is 13.4 inches, the lowest since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1882. If Denver receives less than 8 inches (7.9 to be exact) through May, it will set a record for the lowest season total (Sept.-May) on record. Here are the lowest seasonal totals to date (inches):
- 1888-1889: 21.3
- 2016-2017: 21.8
- 2010-2011: 22.8
- 1887-1888: 25.5
- 2017-2018: 25.7
- 1981-1982: 26.7
- 1903-1904: 27.2
- 1945-1946: 28.6
- 2001-2002: 30.2
- 2005-2006: 30.4
- Average Denver Seasonal Snowfall: 56.9 inches
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MARKET UPDATE - 02/27/2026 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 02/26/2026)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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