ACP Pubs

The Wyoming Highway Commission appears to be on the verge of awarding by far the biggest single highway improvement contract in the Cowboy State’s history. The project is the third phase of reconstruction of US-26/287 over Togwotee Pass between Dubois and Moran Junction, and bids on the 16.3-mile job were opened May 8. The contract award date for projects opened that day was May 15, but the award of a contract for this project has been delayed “pending further review of one of the bids,” according to a Wyoming Department of Transportation news release.

The official estimate for this major project is $63,397,636.15, and only one of the three bids received was within the acceptable range: Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. of Dickinson, N.D., at $63,765,788.50, ...Read More

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Though Colorado subcontractors were unsuccessful this year in their efforts to get prompt pay legislation passed by the legislature, they have since won a legal victory in the “no damage for delay” field. The American Subcontractors Association reports that, in a first-of-its-kind victory, the Colorado Court of Appeals has upheld subcontractors’ limited right to be compensated for costly project delays regardless of “no damage for delay” clauses. The decision in Tricon Kent Co. v. Lafarge North America Inc., et. al. marks the first time a Colorado court has provided an exception to such “no damage for delay” clauses, recognizing an “active inference” exception. ASA and its Colorado chapter had filed a joint “friend of the court” brief in the c...Read More

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Mountain America is unusual in that none of its major metropolitan areas have completed beltways surrounding them. There are partial perimeter freeways, to be sure, and three of the cities – Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver – have made considerable progress on true beltways.

            Denver gained a measure of fame back in 1975 when then-Gov. Richard Lamm fulfilled a campaign promise to “drive a silver stake through the heart of I-470,” the planned metropolitan beltway, and had the project withdrawn from the federal Interstate Highway System. Within a few years, the state would end up paying a great deal higher price when, without the degree of assistance it would have received as an interstate, the first link...Read More

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Colorado has joined the growing number of states that have thrown up their hands and said, “We can’t find a solution to the highway funding problem this year – it’s not the right time – so we’ll do something about it next year.”

            The sole highway funding bill before the Colorado Legislature in its final week, Senate Bill 244 by Sen. Able Tapia (D-Pueblo), would have raised vehicle registration fees and added a daily fee on rental cars. After being debated and amended to effectively reduce its “take” by half, the bill was withdrawn by its sponsor shortly before it was to be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The legislature, controlled by the Democratic party, adjourns for t...Read More

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The only active highway funding measure before the Colorado Legislature, Senate Bill 213, Sen. Andy McElhany’s proposal to toll portions of I-70 in the mountains west of Denver, has been postponed by its sponsor until after the Memorial Day weekend (and the legislature hopes to adjourn on May 7), effectively putting the bill to rest for this legislative session. 

            “I want everybody in the Memorial Day traffic jam to think, ‘For five bucks I could have avoided this,” the senator quipped.

            There was but slight chance that McElhany’s bill would have passed both houses and been signed by Gov. Bill Ritter (a vocal opponen...Read More

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It’s become evident that, with the economy sagging, consumer confidence tanking, foreclosures still climbing, and gasoline prices at all-time highs, this is not the year for major funding increases for roads, highways and transit. In Colorado especially, where TABOR, the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, limits government budget increases to the rate of population growth plus inflation and requires voter approval of any and all tax increases, this is certainly the case. The only highway funding measure alive in the legislature would place tolls on a portion of Interstate 70 in the mountains west of Denver to help fund some as yet undetermined solution to congestion on that stretch of highway – congestion that occurs primarily on weekends and holidays during the winter ski season and summer tourist season. And that bill (Senate...Read More

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Haggling over funding for highways continues, at both the state and federal levels. In Colorado, Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany’s bill, SD-213, to allow the state to charge tolls of up to $5 on the portion of Interstate 70 between Floyd Hill and the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels west of Denver took another step forward with its approval by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 7-3 vote. It now goes to the full Senate for consideration, and if approved there, to the House. There’s still a lengthy road ahead for a comparatively minor funding measure that would affect only one small (though highly important) segment of Colorado’s highway system.

In Arizona, meanwhile, two bills that would allow the Arizona Department of Transportation and oth...Read More

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Two legislative proposals to charge tolls for driving Interstate 70 in the mountains west of Denver got so far as to be considered by the Senate Transportation Committee during March. One died there, while the other took a small step forward.

Senate Bill 209 by Sen. Chris Romer (D-Denver) to levy tolls on one or more lanes of I-70 for those traveling the highway through Clear Creek and Summit counties (essentially from west of Denver to the ski areas as far west as Copper Mountain), but only during the skier morning and evening rush hours, was postponed indefinitely on a 5-2 vote, effectively killing the measure. Money generated by the tolls would have gone to fund bus service over the route.

The other measure, Senate Bill 213, spon...Read More

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In both Arizona and Colorado the legislatures are still in session, and both are considering the use of tolls as a means of increasing highway funding. The matter is considerably further advanced in Colorado, where the state has already authorized the use of tolls and the Colorado Department of Transportation has established a tolling authority and completed a study of what stretches of highway could most effectively (i.e., profitably) be expanded through the collection of tolls. And the heavily used HOV lanes leading into/out of downtown Denver on I-25 have been expanded into HOT – high occupancy/toll – lanes in which single motorists can pay a toll to use the barrier-separated lanes otherwise reserved for high occupancy vehicles.

          &nb...Read More

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Several states in Mountain America have already addressed – or failed to address – their highway funding needs this year. The New Mexico Legislature, in an all-too-typical move, decided the issue was too complex to address properly in this year’s session and put it off until next year, leaving the situation to worsen in the meantime.

            The Utah Legislature wrapped up its 2008 session in early March, approving a ½-cent sales tax increase, with the estimated $22 million in annual revenue to be used to address “choke points” in the state highway system. Plans were finalized for spending $100 million toward the $1.85-billion reconstruction of Interstate 15 in Utah County, south of Salt Lake City. Bonds to...Read More

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