CDOT to sell our roads without citizen approval.

[Skip]

As a citizen I approve the sale of Boulder. With substantial tolls for anyone entering, leaving and sky high property taxes.

Who do I write to make that happen?

[DeusExMachina]

Goldman Sachs, or some other liberal hot button bank.

[Sawin]

1. CDOT is not selling US 36. They are leasing out portions of it in return for a private concern taking care of the maintenance so the state not only gets cash out of the deal but is relieved of an annual expense. The private concern thinks they can make it work financially by charging a toll for people who want express routes.
2. We would be paying for US 36 maintenance and upgrades anyway. The difference here is that the cost is being borne by those who want to travel faster.
3. You can still go east to west across Florida without paying the tolls, it just takes 3-4 times as long. The toll road is successful because people want to get from I-95 to Naples or Tampa or West Palm Beach faster and are willing to pay for it. It is freedom because you have choices: you can pay in cash or you can pay in time. Florida has no income taxes and a lower sales tax than we do here -- and some of you want to give the Dems permission to raise taxes even more to pay for highway maintenance that should already be budgeted.
4. From what I've been able to dig up in the past day, the toll road and private-public partnership proposals have been open and transparent -- including bidding -- for two years. It's not CDOT's fault that most of us have ignored it because of the fights over Amendment 64, gun control, sex education in elementary schools, etc.

Why am I not surprised this thread was started by nynco? It's so full of misinformation you'd think it came from the White House Communications Director.

Thank you

[roberth]

Thank you Aloha_Shooter.

[Ronin13]

you are nuts, i lived in florida for years. they did not open a major highway project the entire time i was there that was not a toll road. it is higher now, but at the time it was 9 bucks to run the east/west expresssway from one end of orlando to the other. 18 bucks a day added to a commute, $360 a month if you had to commute.

wow that sounds like freedom

I concur on this... My GF is from Orlando- when she worked at Sea World and lived in the only place she could afford (45min-1hr away) it was either pay a crap ton of money to be 45min away, or avoid the toll roads and be 3hrs away. That's a huge difference. In the modern era, where time is money, it's a toss up: pay more, drive less; pay less, drive more. Toll roads can go up everywhere, as long as I don't have to pay more for gas. Rabid put it very well- I too would rather only one hand be in my pocket than two; and considering I may get a job in Louisville, while my GF still lives in Denver, I'd rather not have the choice between pay a toll 4-6x a week (if you factor round trip) or drive 1-2hrs to avoid the toll... either way I'm paying in either gas or tolls. This is why I avoid E-470. And Aloha, good points. However, some of us (well myself) aren't that good at seeking out obscure and lesser reported stories like this while we have other issues that took the forefront lately (64, guns, etc.). Hence why I rely on you savage bunch to fill me on in the stories that aren't top priority on some of the sites I get news from (note: NOT MSM).

[BPTactical]

I concur on this... My GF is from Orlando- when she worked at Sea World and lived in the only place she could afford (45min-1hr away) it was either pay a crap ton of money to be 45min away, or avoid the toll roads and be 3hrs away. That's a huge difference. In the modern era, where time is money, it's a toss up: pay more, drive less; pay less, drive more. Toll roads can go up everywhere, as long as I don't have to pay more for gas. Rabid put it very well- I too would rather only one hand be in my pocket than two; and considering I may get a job in Louisville, while my GF still lives in Denver, I'd rather not have the choice between pay a toll 4-6x a week (if you factor round trip) or drive 1-2hrs to avoid the toll... either way I'm paying in either gas or tolls. This is why I avoid E-470. And Aloha, good points. However, some of us (well myself) aren't that good at seeking out obscure and lesser reported stories like this while we have other issues that took the forefront lately (64, guns, etc.). Hence why I rely on you savage bunch to fill me on in the stories that aren't top priority on some of the sites I get news from (note: NOT MSM).

You got a GF?
Now that is news....

[Aloha_Shooter]

Oh gee, this press release is almost two years old: http://boulder.kdvr.com/news/transpo...vement-project

What does it say? (My emphasis in red bold)

CDOT looking for bids on U.S. 36 Improvement Project
Submitted by
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012, 11:04am







Topics: Transportation






Print E-mail







Yesterday, the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE) released a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a public-private partnership (P3) for Phase 2 of the US 36 Managed Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit project, the phase that will complete improvements to the corridor between Denver and Boulder. US 36 is a priority regional transportation project in one of the highest growth corridors in the state.
The successful bidder is expected to design, build and finance Phase 2 of US 36 and operate and maintain the managed lanes for the full US 36 corridor as well as for the I-25 HOV/Express Lanes, a total of about 24 miles. The “design, build, finance, operate, maintain” agreement will be structured as a toll concession and is expected to have a term of 50 years.

Statements of Qualifications are due in April and a short list of qualified proposers is expected to be announced in May.
A copy of the RFQ may be obtained via the following link: http://www.coloradohpte.com or at: http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/US36ManagedLanes. For more information, contact Kari Grant at 303-757-9380.
About the US 36 Managed Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit Project:
Phase I of the multi-modal US 36 project will reconstruct US 36 between Federal Boulevard and the Interlocken Loop interchange. Construction of Phase I is expected to begin in spring of 2012.

Phase II, for which RFQs are being requested, will complete the reconstruction of US 36 between the Interlocken Loop and Foothills Parkway in Boulder. Both phases of the US 36 improvements consist of the following elements:

• Reconstruction and widening of US 36 to accommodate a new buffer-separated managed lane in each direction of US 36 as well as 12-foot shoulders
• Reconstruction existing pavement
• Construction of sound walls
• Construction of retaining walls
• Installing Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for tolling, transit information and incident management
• Accommodating queue bypass lanes at on-ramps
• Where feasible, installing a commuter bikeway
• Replacing necessary structures
• Implementing an appropriate transportation demand management (TDM) program

Press Release

So the managed (toll) lanes are new additional lanes but existing lanes will be rehabbed too. You will be able to use the rehabbed non-toll lanes, you'll just have to contend with the traffic from everyone else who doesn't want to pay the toll.

I haven't dug in any further but I'll bet the "Friends of the Colorado PUC" has strong ties to unions, environmentalists, and other nutcase lying friends of Bloomberg/Obama/etc. (whoops, sorry that's pretty redundant).

[Rabid]

Oh gee, this press release is almost two years old: http://boulder.kdvr.com/news/transpo...vement-project

What does it say? (My emphasis in red bold)



So the managed (toll) lanes are new additional lanes but existing lanes will be rehabbed too. You will be able to use the rehabbed non-toll lanes, you'll just have to contend with the traffic from everyone else who doesn't want to pay the toll.

I haven't dug in any further but I'll bet the "Friends of the Colorado PUC" has strong ties to unions, environmentalists, and other nutcase lying friends of Bloomberg/Obama/etc. (whoops, sorry that's pretty redundant).

FYI "Friends of the Colorado PUC" is not contributed by Bloomberg or Obama its the Koch brothers along with energy company's A.K.A the D's worst enemy. Is it good information, no, not at all. Its big money looking for more money. This truly is a R response, even though it does not sound like it, to the D's. My guess is they are trying to get the boulderites up in arms and effectively so if you think it was a D's proposal.

US 36 is a money pit, i can not truly remember a full year it was not under construction and i am a native. I have no clue what they are doing, maybe helping the albino humping toad or something but it is always too little to late when it is for the commuters. To turn the clock back 10 years on this abomination of a highway by turning it from a 3 and 2 lane to a 2 and 1 lane is a joke, did i paid for countless years of construction only to get charged again when i do not want to be in a traffic jam? I hope not because i feel money is owed to me for the next 50 years if it is.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Can you read? The managed lane is an ADDITIONAL lane.

[Ronin13]

Well that sure makes me feel better. Thanks for posting that Aloha... and here's a nice little update from CDOT on the whole matter, it pretty well lays out the facts:
http://www.coloradodot.info/projects...ding-the-facts