After the public outcry over the widening of U.S. 36 that allows a private company to manage the turnpike and collect tolls from travelers on the new lanes, the state highway department is wise to be taking a more deliberate and cautious approach to future projects.
The Colorado Department of Transportation on Tuesday launched a new online tool it hopes will “educate and engage the public about changes in transportation financing, partnerships and project delivery.”
The department was criticized for a less than transparent process that led to the $425 million contract with Plenary Roads to build a portion of the highway and collect tolls on two restricted lanes while maintaining them through 2063.
A bill passed by the legislature and then vetoed by Gov. John Hickenlooper would have required more transparency. Hickenlooper objected to other mandates, such as a 35-year cap on contracts, contending they would have driven away interest from private businesses.
Thankfully, he issued an executive order that maintained the bill’s focus on more public involvement whenever the state enters into a public-private partnership, or P3.
The U.S. 36 project was the state’s first P3 and was necessary to address Colorado’s “quiet crisis in transportation,” in Hickenlooper’s words, meaning the Transportation Department simply doesn’t have the resources to build every project on its own.
Nevertheless, P3s are not the answer in many corridors, and currently the state has near-term plans for only one more — a stretch of Interstate 70 through north Denver. But before it finalizes that project, the state is seeking additional public involvement.
Other upcoming CDOT highway expansion projects are not likely to resort to P3s, such as a nifty $47 million toll lane on the eastbound shoulder of I-70 from Idaho Springs to Empire Junction that would charge drivers $8 to $9 for 9 miles of unfettered traffic, or express lanes planned for C-470.
CDOT is asking for input. Now the public needs to step up and get involved instead of waiting until it is too late.
