…And we’re calling it a summit because there’s very possibly more riding on it than you might assume. As we’ve noted before, some of the biggest stakeholders in Colorado’s transportation grid – the ones most urgently pushing to unlock the gridlock – have nudged the state’s top transportation policy makers to the table for the optimistically dubbed “Driviing Forward” event this evening.

Hosts are the Fix Colorado Roads coalition and Colorado Business Roundtable. The meeting will serve as a forum touted to, “Bring together policymakers and business leaders as they address Colorado’s transportation crisis.”

And if any of them need a reminder just how dire the need is, this morning’s Denver Business Journal reports on a new study on how much time motorists around the country spend marooned in traffic – as ranked by metro area. Denver’s status?

Metro Denver ranks 21st out of 240 U.S. cities for the amount of time drivers spend stuck in heavy traffic.

That’s according to a new report from Inrix Inc., a Kirkland, Washington-based tech company that provides traffic data for mobile apps.

The company estimates that Denver drivers spent an average of 36 hours last year in congested traffic.

The headliners at tonight’s gathering will be Senate President Kevin Grantham, Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran and Colorado Department of Transportation Executive Director Shailen Bhatt. Unadvertised subtext: Grantham and Duran will be in the hot seat.

Make no mistake, this isn’t just a gab fest for the public to learn about transportation; the forum seems choreographed at least as much to influence the participants themselves. Just in case there’s any doubt the pressure is on – for them to produce a solution, soon – a follow-up media alert this morning included these points to ponder:

The need to repair and expand Colorado’s roads and bridges has never been so dire provided Colorado’s recent population boom and lack of a reliable, permanent funding source for transportation. Nine out of 10 voters agree that Colorado’s roads are in “desperate need of repair.”

A compromise solution has yet to be introduced at the Capitol; “Driving Forward” will jump start a productive conversation between the business community and policymakers about how to solve our state’s transportation crisis.

Some details for those planning to attend:

WHERE:

ICOSA Event Center, 4100 Jackson Street Denver, CO 80216

WHEN:

Today

Panels and presentation: 4:30 – 6 PM

Networking and Happy Hour from 6 – 7 PM