RODEO

of each event in a timely fashion.

Among those competing in the morning’s slack was Taylor ompson from Merino, Colorado. ompson heard about the rodeo from his team-roping partner, and he appreciated a wintertime rodeo. He said it gives rodeo competitors something to do, and he’d be willing to compete again if the organizers made it an annual thing.

Cadence Hale, a high school junior from Kersey, Colorado, has been riding in rodeos for eight years, and does about 50 a year. About half are through a high school circuit through an after-school club, and the other half are with her family.

She’s done several events over the years, but she was competing in barrel racing and breakaway roping at Je co, with the latter event being her favorite.

Considering her summers are packed with rodeos, she also appreciated the winter event as a nice change of pace. She said it’s a great way to gain experience before the season kicks o next month.

Aurora’s Kevin Martin, whose son competed at Je co, also described it as a great learning experience. He noted how the competitors ranged from high school students to seasoned riders, saying the event was open to everyone, which not all rodeos are.

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Since the e ort started, he noted an additional 10 pedestrian deaths.

“ e project goal is to make it a safer environment, and a quality environment for pedestrians, with amenities, certainly contributes to the revitalization of Colfax in this area.” at safer environment includes removing outside lanes of Colfax to create bu er zones between the cars and sidewalk using landscaping and trees. e sidewalk would also be made continuous along the entire section.

O cials said most of the pedestrian deaths in Lakewood happened away from intersections. Another issue that Wadnal said the city aims to resolve is to create better crossings and “pedestrian refuge areas,” which would allow pedestrians to wait in medians to cross if they are not able to rush across Colfax. e funding for the project came from e Safer Main Streets Initiative grant, a competitive grant for the entire metro area. It provided the city with $10 million in 2020 to make the improvements. Part of the reason the city was awarded the grant was because of the fatality statistics on the section of Colfax.

Supply chain issues and ination have a ected the budget since 2020, Wadnal said. at has required the city to look for additional grants and funding, including through the state.