Montrose residents vote in municipal election
Today is election day in Montrose! Ten candidates are in the running for three city council positions. Eligible voters within city limits should have received their ballots by mail. If you haven’t mailed your ballot back already, you can return it to the curbside ballot box outside the Montrose County offices at 317 S. 2nd St, to the ballot box within the County election office or to the drop box located within City Hall at 400 Main Street by 7pm.
Poll finds increasing number of intentionally unaffilliated voters in Colorado
In state-wide election news, the Colorado Sun reports that the vast majority of unaffiliated voters in Colorado say they intentionally registered that way. A new poll eroded the assumption that the growing share of unaffiliated voters in the state in recent years has been caused by automatic voter registration. Colorado switched to an automatic voter registration system in 2019, under which eligible individuals are automatically registered to vote when they have an interaction with the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles. They’re registered as unaffiliated until they affiliate with a party. Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans have been registered to vote through automatic voter registration, and during that time the share of unaffiliated voters in the state has steadily increased. As of Dec. 1, unaffiliated voters made up half of active, registered voters statewide. Unaffiliated voters also made up the largest share of the electorate in each of the state’s eight congressional districts. A recent poll of these voters found that 86% of them had intentionally remained unaffiliated. The poll also showed they have a clear preference for Democrats — which matches election results in Colorado over the past decade.
MTJ announced summer flight schedule
The Montrose Regional Airport has posted its summer flight schedule, with some exciting updates. United Airlines will be operating nonstop flights from LAX to MTJ on Saturdays from May 23 – Sep 19. Chicago (ORD-MTJ) flights will return to five days per week, up from two last summer, running from May 21 – Sep 21. Houston (IAH-MTJ) flights will extend to operate daily May 21-Aug 10 and 2x weekly from Aug 11 – Sep 23. United, American, and Southwest are expanding April-May capacity: American and United will be running larger mainline jets. Southwest will fly 7days/week, up from 5, through April and May on the Denver and Dallas-Forth Worth routes, providing a 20% overall increase in capacity in April and 40% increase in May.
CDOT announces update on culvert replacement project on US 50
In other transportation news, The Colorado Department of Transportation has announced as part of the culvert replacement project on US 50, traffic north of Montrose will be shifted to a new westbound lane traffic alignment. The frontage road will remain closed, and crews will perform work on the frontage road and eastbound lanes on US 50. Traffic utilizing the Frontage Road detour north of Montrose from Mile Post 89.7 to MP 90 will be shifted onto westbound lanes of US 50 into two-way, single-lane traffic. Traffic shifts will begin at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14. Access to 6300 Road will remain open to right turn only traffic and travelers can access the road via the intersection north of the closure. Travelers from the north can access 6300 Road via the intersection north of the Rexel store. The traffic shift will maintain flowing traffic in both directions for the duration of the project. The culvert replacements will accommodate higher accumulations of rainfall, lower the risks associated with flooding, help maintain the integrity of the roadway and help maintain safe driving conditions. The project is expected to complete in June 2026.
The Town of Norwood in southwest Colorado has pressing water concerns. Evaporation and algae blooms on its reservoir are costing the town valuable money and water. So, the local water commission decided to team up with a local non-profit and students from the Colorado School of Mines to try and do something about it. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KOTO's Julia Caulfield brings us more on the project.
