Funding

1. Where will the money come from if “Does not meet standards” options are utilized?

Answer: Design Options that ‘Do not meet standards’ can be funded using federal dollars as long as a case can be made that no other options are prudent. At 8th Street, for example, the level-of-service (LOS) requirement for CDOT standards is met, while the LOS standard for the City is not. The only way to improve the LOS would require an interchange with directional ramps, the type of interchange meant for highway-to-highway or interstate-to-highway operations. This type of interchange is inappropriate between US 24 and 8th Street. It would result in greater impacts to surrounding businesses and changes to 8th Street for an extended distance to the south. Access to businesses would have to be restricted and many of the existing businesses along 8th Street would have to be relocated. Given these impacts, this type of improvement would not be considered a prudent choice relative to the choice of allowing a design exception.

If another location needed a variance from standards, a case would have to be made that no other prudent option exists. For example, at 21st Street the intersection does not meet the LOS standards. To build a case to allow the intersection requires us to look at the operations and impacts of interchanges. Our evaluation concluded that because the impacts to surrounding businesses and other environmental resources are similar between the intersection and the interchange, building an interchange is an acceptable option. A case for a variance from the LOS standard cannot be made because a prudent option exists.

2. We’ve been told that the only reason you went The Midland Express route was to get federal grant money. Is this true? Please discuss where and how you will get the $240 million.

Answer: The Midland Expressway was chosen because it best fits the context of the community; it addresses the nine critical issues identified during initial meetings with the community residents and agency staff and provides improved regional and local mobility. The Midland Expressway does qualify as an alternative that would be eligible for federal funding. The US 24 Freeway also qualified as an alternative that would be eligible for federal funding.

The $240 million will be budgeted through the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (PPACG) Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) process. No dollars will be available until the 2009–2014 TIP which will be developed in 2008. Unless the project priority is upgraded, the earliest date for funding would be 2013. It is most likely that the $240 million will be budgeted over time in smaller amounts. One of the project tasks, near the end of the environmental assessment process, will be to look at the phasing possibilities for the preferred alternative. The phasing of the US 24 improvements will be based on the mobility needs and improvements gained, construction-related issues, the available funding and overall benefit to the community.

3. What are the prospects for earlier funding if a plan is in place sooner rather than later?

Answer: The funding for the US 24 improvements will be budgeted through the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (PPACG) Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) process. No dollars will be available until the 2009–2014 TIP which will be developed in 2008. For dollars to become available before the 2009 TIP requires that dollars be moved from a project already in an existing TIP. This would require that another project be reduced in priority and replaced with US 24 -- this would be an unusual action in current TIP practices.

4. What percentage of the $240+ Million project will the cities of Manitou, Colorado Springs and the County be forced to pay?

Answer: All of the $240 million will be funded through the PPACG TIP process. No dollars will be needed from the cities or the counties. Since the US 24 Plan is looking at a long-range plan for US 24 it reflects improvements, such as extending the Midland Trail, which is already a project planned by both Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs . For consistency the US 24 Plan will include elements, such as the Midland Trail, that may be funded by others. None of these elements were included in the $240 million.

5. Will these designs possibly require LIDs along the corridor? And/or greatly increase a tax on property owners/retail sales collection?

Answer: Limited Improvement Districts (LID) will not be needed to fund the US 24 improvements, nor will an increase in property or sales tax be needed. The US 24 improvements will be funded using federal and state dollars, most of which will be Highway User Gas Tax Funds.