Road vote may have big impact

By Jeffrey Leib
February 5, 2001

The legislature's plan to restore about $212 million in transportation funding this week not only will get the summer construction season back on track, it also could salvage strategic road projects in coming years.

If the money is approved, the Colorado Department of Transportation will be able to sell between $400 million and $500 million in highway bonds in April for future projects, Executive Director Tom Norton said.

Without the $212 million, which includes about $93 million for the southeast corridor light rail and highway expansion project along Interstate 25, CDOT's planned spring highway bond offering will have to be pared to about $100 million.

When voters approved Amendment 23 last November, which funds public school education at the rate of inflation plus 1 percentage point each year over 10 years, state officials siphoned about $260 million from CDOT's budget to cover the costs.

Norton said CDOT needs the bulk of its lost funding restored by Feb. 15 to keep 10 key highway projects on schedule this year. If the cuts are not restored, it would reduce CDOT's cash flow, preventing the agency from selling the larger package of bonds on the market.

Last week, legislators put the restoration of funds on the fast track. The highway spending bill is due for a vote in the House today before it moves on to the Senate.

Even if the $212 million is restored, it will leave CDOT about $52 million short in funding 10 other regional highway and airport projects.

That money was to come from the capital construction fund, but it was pared from the CDOT budget following passage of Amendment 23. Norton said he's hopeful that the $52 million will be restored in this year's legislative session.