In a state where the transportation needs are not being met – to the tune of about $800 million annually – every part of Colorado wants a bigger piece of the pie. On Thursday, officials from numerous governmental and private entities told the Transportation Legislation Review Committee what they’d like to see in the piece of the pie allocated to Southwest Colorado.
The committee, made up of representatives and senators from around the state, is on an extensive tour of the state for these listening sessions. On Wednesday, committee members started in Pueblo, stopped by Alamosa for a tour and hearing, dined in Pagosa Springs and spent the night in Durango, before spending a full day Thursday touring Durango-La Plata County Airport, U.S. Highways 550 and 160 – including a visit to the Grandview Interchange where the 550 realignment is planned – Colorado Highway 3’s rockfall project and the Durango Transit Center.
“Unless you see it, it’s us trying to describe it to you,” said Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, who isn’t on the committee but welcomed her colleagues to her district. “When you see what connects us to the rest of Colorado and how fragile it is, you’ll understand how important transportation is.”
Among the people addressing the committee was Amber Blake, the city of Durango’s director of transportation and sustainability, who had already talked with the committee at the Transit Center. At the hearing, she made a plea for the state to continue supporting transit in the area.
“We need those federal dollars funneled through the state so wheels can keep rolling,” she said. “All transit is subsidized because communities need to get workers to jobs, residents to events and the disabled and elderly to a doctor’s appointment, or so they can eat. I don’t know how you slice the pie so everybody gets their share, but please don’t forget about us.”
She said the city gets about $913,000 from the federal government passed through CDOT, almost a third of the budget to keep the trolley, and opportunity and fixed-route buses on the road.
Many speakers talked about how cooperation between different governmental entities helps to get transportation projects done in this part of the state, which receives about 8 percent of CDOT’s overall budget, Region 5 Director Kerrie Neet said.
“In the last four or five years, La Plata County has completed 10 road projects through intergovernmental agreements,” La Plata County Commissioner Brad Blake said. “We have another seven slated for the next couple of years. But costs keep going up. Remember when the Million Dollar Highway cost $1 million a mile and that was a lot? We’re working on a segment of (Wilson Gulch) Road that isn’t even a mile and is going to cost $8 million.”
CDOT Deputy Director Michael Lewis said Colorado is reaching a perfect storm when it comes to growing transportation needs. The $800 million annual shortfall for identified projects is projected to hit $1 billion annually in the next 10 years.
“The gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1992 or 1993, but the purchasing power of those dollars has gone down 50 percent, so costs have gone through the roof, but revenue hasn’t gone up to match it,” he said. “We never think about where that box of cornflakes come from; it’s just on the shelf. When you go to Starbuck’s, the coffee’s just there, but they don’t grow and grind it there. Every good we use and depend on has to be transported.”
Our isolation means the roads are more important than in other places, Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council Member Regina Whiteskunk said.
“The roads are a blessing to help develop our economy,” she said. “They’re also a gateway to Colorful Colorado, but in the end, they’re a safety concern for our people.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
