Interstates and Intersections: Paths to Education and Outreach

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Centered Archaeology in Colorful Colorado", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2015, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) received a Stephen H. Hart Award by History Colorado. The accolade, for “Initiating and Developing a Collaborative Mitigation Program Throughout Colorado”, recognized CDOT for cultivating and maintaining a historic preservation compliance program above and beyond basic compliance needs. Because of effective coordination with the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, local agencies, and other entities, CDOT is a leader in creative mitigation for transportation projects. The logistical nature of CDOT divides project review into “history” and “archaeology”. Two relatively recent projects, Central 70 (technically the “history” review/ mitigation) and the US 550 - US 160 Connection South (technically the “archaeology” review/ mitigation) centered around communities intricately connected to the project areas creating much more than a new section of highway. This paper looks at these projects as examples of a long tradition, as well as models for future work.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Community Centered Archaeology in Colorful Colorado   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow