Name Game Key to Success in Colorado

NEW YORK — Denver has proof that successful branding is important, especially when it comes to a major construction project that is likely to create a logistical nightmare for the entire city.

A five-year, $1.7 billion lanes-and-trains reconstruction of nearly 20 miles of Interstates 25 and 225 scheduled to begin this fall originally was called the Southeast Corridor Project, which most locals had been hard-pressed to define. But when the project was renamed the Transportation Expansion Project and dubbed T-REX, recognition of and support for the work went Mile High.

In a just-released survey, 79% of Denver residents support T-REX “even though it will tear up the area’s major north-south artery for a long time,” and only 6% have never heard of the project, according to Talmey-Drake Research & Strategy, Boulder. In comparison, 17% of those surveyed said they have never heard of Wayne Allard, who is Colorado’s junior U.S. senator. It is not known whether the senator will be changing his name to Wayne Allosaurus in time for the next election.