US 36 Phase II

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE) selected Plenary Roads Denver as the Concessionaire for Phase 2 of the US 36 Express Lanes Project. Phase 2 focuses on the project elements from 88th Street in Louisville/Superior to Table Mesa/Foothills Parkway in Boulder, which will complete improvements to the entire US 36 corridor between Denver and Boulder.

The project is CDOT’s first public-private partnership (P3), an innovative partnership where the public and private sectors team together to provide transportation improvements and services to the traveling public. CDOT and HPTE have entered into a 50-year agreement with Plenary Roads Denver.

Phase 2 of the project will:

  • Construct an Express Lane in each direction of US 36 between 88th Street and Table Mesa for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) and tolled vehicles;
  • Reconstruct two general purpose lanes in each direction between 88th Street and Table Mesa
  • Widen the highway to accommodate 12-foot-wide inside and outside shoulders;
  • Replace the Coal Creek Bridge, rehabilitate and widen the South Boulder Creek bridge, and widen the McCaslin Boulevard bridge to accommodate a diverging diamond interchange;
  • Add Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) improvements, including new electronic display signage at stations and bus priority improvements at ramps. The improvements also will allow buses to operate on the shoulders of US 36 between interchanges to decrease bus travel time;
  • Install Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for tolling, transit and traveler information, and incident management;
  • Install a separate commuter bikeway along the rest of the corridor; and
  • Improve the RTD station at McCaslin Boulevard.

In addition to the project elements, Plenary Roads Denver will be responsible for operating and maintaining the following highways:

  • US 36 between I-25 and Table Mesa
  • I-25 Express Lanes between downtown Denver and US 36

Responsibilities include minor repairs, striping, and snow and ice removal on the highways.

About two-thirds of the Phase 2 Project costs are funded through private sector equity and non-recourse debt. The project delivers much-needed capacity, while shifting operations and maintenance and replacement obligations to the private sector for the next 50 years. And, the P3 arrangement enables the project to be completed 20 years sooner than originally planned.