Margie and I manage to miss most of the congestion on C470 down in our neck of the woods. Margie’s work is off in a different direction, and my commuting is generally in the opposite direction (and timeshifted). But it does still affect us at times (esp. as it spills over onto County Line), so we’ve been watching the CDOT proposal process for what to do about it with a modicum of interest.
The current plan is to build four toll lanes, two in each direction, for the stretch between I-25 and Kipling. That’s got some local governments unhappy.
Douglas County continued its assault on the state’s toll plan for C-470 on Wednesday by suggesting that two additional free lanes on C-470 could be built for far less than toll lanes.
Two non-toll lanes – one in each direction – would cost between $25 million and $50 million instead of the $325 million Colorado officials seek for four toll lanes, a consultant hired by Douglas County said.
Not only can non-toll lanes be added for far less cost per mile, but the more expensive toll-lane alternative will fail to significantly reduce congestion in C-470’s existing general-purpose lanes, he said.
CDOT says there’s no money to build non-toll lanes (probably true). DougCo and local governments are considering a proposal to create a regional taxing authority to pay for the changes — though that would face both voter approval and would require a careful balance to convince people that the folks causing the traffic are the ones who will be paying.
My prediction: law suits that drag out any conclusion, along with a ballot initiative that does the same, during which time the estimated costs (already almost certainly low by at least 50%) will triple. Work will begin in 2015 on some solution that will be obsolete and insufficient before ground is broken.
(Further coverage here.)