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Oct 22, 2007 6:21 pm US/Mountain
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Funds For I-70 Improvements May Be Hard To Come By
Written by Andrea Lopez
by Andrea Lopez
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4) ―
No matter which preferred alternative is chosen from the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement like widening, transit, or a combination of both, it won't happen without additional funding. The money is currently not there to turn any of the proposed ideas for Interstate 70 into a reality.
"The costs, that I understand, range anywhere from two billion to six billion depending on if you put transit into that or some rail component into that, and the question is: Where are you going to come up with that kind of money to make that happen?" said Joe Blake, President of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Blake is also a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel. It's tasked with figuring out how The Colorado Department of Transportation will pay for any major improvements on I-70.
"I think right now the panel is looking at a broad array," he said. "It's still too early. Their goal, I believe, is to be completed by November, looking at the options in each of the areas -- whether that's an increase in the gas tax, or whether that's an increase in motor vehicle registration."
"That's what we're struggling with here: how do we increase the revenue to CDOT to make these improvements," said panel member Michael Penny, "whether it be a bridge, or the I-70 viaduct in Denver. Sitting on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel, we're still trying to get final numbers."
"The coalition knows two things about funding: one is that we can't do it all by ourselves," said I-70 Coalition Director Dr. Florine Raitano, "this is going to be a statewide issue. We're also pretty sure that CDOT can't do it by themselves. And the third thing is, we're pretty sure the federal government isn't going to pick up the bill for this large of a project either. We really are relatively convinced that at least for the transit part of the solution on I-70 we're really looking at some type of joint venture -- a public private partnership."
Part of the funding problem is that CDOT is struggling just to maintain what it has, or the current infrastructure. Between now and 2035, it will need $139 billion just to keep our roadways and bridges in the state they are today. But it's projected that only $75 billion will be available, leaving the state agency without the money it needs to keep our state's infrastructure healthy.
Currently, more than 60 percent of Colorado's roadways are rated in good or fair condition. But by 2026, it's estimated that only 30 percent of our roadways will get that same rating because there won't be enough money to maintain them properly. CDOT would need to more than double its revenue to keep our pavement in good condition. With its current funding levels, CDOT's ability to maintain our roadways-which includes snow removal, signs, road surface, and striping-will receive a failing grade or an "F" in the future for the level of service it will be able to provide. This is according to CDOT.
Nearly half of Colorado's interstate system was built before 1965, and 75 percent was built before 1970. All were designed to last about 20 years. So, much of our system is now in need of extensive repairs. Colorado's population has also climbed. It increased 38 percent from 1990 to 2004 (3.3 million to 4.6 million) making it the second largest increase in the nation. From 1990 to 2005, the number of miles traveled on Colorado's interstates increased by 68 percent, while the miles of roadway only increased by 1 percent.
"For at least the last 17 or 18 years, there has been no increase in the revenue stream -- any revenue stream -- for statewide transportation," said CDOT Executive Director Russell George. "Yet during that same time period, inflation costs have continued to grow and construction inflation has grown in astounding rates -- much higher than the regular consumer price index. So, inflation has taken a lot of the buying power of the money we do have. We are caught also, at this time, in significant population growth. Not only do we have more people but everybody is driving more.
"We're caught in a squeeze. We do have a certain amount of money; it's losing its buying power; we've invested as wisely and as efficiently as we can, but as we make the projections of what we need to do and what the public is asking us to do with these levels of decreasing revenue, it's starting to get harder and harder for us to do all that's asked for."
Due to this struggle to just take care of what we already have, CDOT will have to find a new and creative funding source for major improvements on I-70. That funding will also have to be sustainable, or able to provide for the maintenance of additional miles of roadways or a transit system.
Initial estimates in the PEIS suggest that the capital costs for a rail system with intermountain connection would be $4.92 billion. Estimated capitol costs for an advanced guideway system like a monorail are $6.15 billion. Capitol costs for a bus in a guidway system range between $3.26 billion to $3.47 billion. Interstate widening could range in cost from $2.41 billion to $2.65 billion. However, officials at CDOT say it may be ten years before we see any major construction on I-70, and with inflation, those figures may change dramatically depending on what construction costs are in the future.
"These are really very complex issues," said Blake. "When you have issues that relate to infrastructure, invariably the question is: What can we afford? What is it going to cost? How are we going to have the resources -- sustainable resources -- to build and maintain those new items?"
It may take a statewide vote to get the needed funding for improvements on I-70. But if that's the case, will the mountain corridor be one of many statewide projects allotted only a piece of the financial pie? And will people who don't use I-70 be willing to vote for it? Improvements are needed all over the state, and of greater priority to the people who are dealing with their own transportation frustrations.
"I think the experience of the referendum C and D campaign is that Coloradoans are amazing," said Blake, who was heavily involved. "When they see the right vision, when they see that this has been well thought out, and when they see what the benefit of that program would be -- not just necessarily through their own region or portion of the corridor -- I think Coloradoans really respond to a statewide vision. I think there's a great deal of pride for people who live here, who want to raise their families here, and who want to have a decent business growing and be able to attract more business. I have great faith in what came out with referendum C. They responded to that vision and I think that given the right opportunities that may happen again."
Even though it will likely be the fall of 2008 before CDOT presents its final plan for I-70, the Blue Ribbon Panel hopes to have a solution, or solutions, to the funding problem by November of this year.
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