THE 7-YEAR HITCH.

• Author: LEWIS, PETE
• Position: SURVIVING THE SOUTHEAST CORRIDOR PROJECT

SURVIVING THE SOUTHEAST CORRIDOR PROJECT

BILL HERINGER IS IN THE transportation business. He doesn't drive a bus or fly an airplane. In fact, he sells office furniture. Heringer is president of Rocky Mountain Desk, and his address - South Revere Parkway in Englewood - puts him at the epi center of the region most impaced by the seven-year, Southeast, Corridor Project, set to begin this summer.

And that means he's in the transportation business.

Heringer appreciates the role transportation plays in his life and the lives of his 75 employees. All have to get to and from work. His field employees navigate Denver's congested highways every day. He needs customers to visit his showroom, and his vendors need to deliver to job sites or his two warehouses. Increased traffic on Interstate 25 in and around the Denver Tech Center will affect each group.

A former chairman of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, Heringer is aware of the region's transportation challenges, and he's proactively tried to address them. He's bought technology that allows employees to work efficiently from home or the field. He allows employees flexible schedules to avoid high-congestion periods.

So it's disconcerting to hear Heringer's strategy for dealing with the impending Southeast Corridor Project: "In all honesty, we haven't even thought about it," he said in late December.

The Southeast Corridor project is a $1.6 billion transportation improvement that will last seven years and encompass the state's busiest stretch of highway -- the primary link between its two largest employment centers and a critical since of the region's highway system. Construction will begin this June.

At the time, he and the other 125,000 people who work in approximately 5,000 business along the southeast I-25 corridor had few specifics on which to plan.

Plans call for additional highway lanes on 1-25 from Broadway to Lincoln. Avenue and on Interstate 225 from Parker Road to 1-25, plus 19 miles of light rail transit and 13 new transit stations. Until June 2008, much of the metro area's population will feel the impact.

Amy Ford, a spokesperson with the Southeast Corridor Project, a partnership of federal and state agencies led by the Colorado Department of Transportation and RTD, said companies should begin developing strategies for dealing with the construction.

The project has earmarked $3 million toward outreach, education and alternative transportation incentives and subsidies...