The proposed Front Range Toll Road – touted as a cure for the crowded highways in metro Denver – will do little to relieve traffic on Interstate 25, a road expert told a panel of lawmakers Thursday.
Will Toor, chairman of the Denver Regional Council of Governments, said the toll road would increase demand on surrounding state highways while failing to divert traffic out of the city.
“It is unlikely to have a significant impact in relieving congestion,” Toor said in a meeting with state lawmakers considering changes to the state’s toll-road laws.
According to DRCOG’s analysis, 260,000 vehicles travel on I-25 every day, with only 3,000 passing through the metro area. All of the other trips are heading to destinations in the city or its surrounding suburbs.
By 2030, I-25 will carry 310,000 vehicles per day, while the Front Range Toll Road would handle only 24,000.
Ellen Dumm, spokeswoman for Front Range Toll Road developer Ray Wells, said the company’s projections are consistent with a state study that estimates 27,000 vehicles per day in 2010 on a similar toll road on the Eastern Plains.
The merits of the Front Range Toll Road were debated as the Transportation Legislation Review Committee began hearings on changing antiquated road-building laws that, among other things, require roads to be wide enough to let wagon trains pass.
The legislature attempted several changes this year. But Gov. Bill Owens vetoed bills that would have eliminated the use of condemnation by private road developers and required private road projects to meet federal highway-building standards.
DRCOG officials said they were concerned that tolls from the Front Rage Toll Road would cover only about 52 percent of the project’s estimated $2 billion cost. Dumm said the rest of the costs would be covered by revenue from the railroad tracks that are a key part of the project.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at mcouch@denverpost.com or 303-820-1794.
