The Northwest Parkway toll authority is re-funding about $225 million of the road’s bond debt to get more favorable terms for repaying investors in the toll highway.
Toll revenues are only about 40 percent of what was predicted in 2001, and the highway needs the bond re-fund to adjust debt- payment schedules so the road pays less money now and more after traffic picks up, said parkway executive director Steve Hogan.
About 9.5 miles of the Northwest Parkway is tolled; another roughly 1.5 miles is not.
The highway runs from near Interstate 25 and 160th Avenue, where the E-470 toll road meets I-25, on an arc to a point near the Boulder Turnpike.
“Without the current debt restructuring, revenues would likely not be sufficient to pay the existing debt service beginning in 2006,” said Moody’s Investors Service, the bond-ratings agency, in a recent statement.
Job growth and residential construction in the Northwest Parkway corridor have not matched predictions, according to Ho gan and officials at Moody’s.
“Significant annual revenue and traffic growth is needed to achieve minimum debt service coverage levels,” Moody’s said in its report. “Revenue growth relies on a combination of increases in traffic and toll rates, and the sensitivity of traffic to toll increases is uncertain.”
Northwest Parkway officials are proposing to raise the highway’s full-length toll rate from the current $1.75 to $2 on Jan. 1.
At 10 a.m. Monday, officials plan to open the newest interchange, Sheridan Parkway. The interchange will improve toll-road access for residents of Broomfield, Erie and Lafayette, Hogan said.
Travelers can use the interchange toll-free the rest of this month. Drivers who use EXpressToll electronic transponders will have toll-free use of the interchange through the end of the year, officials said.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
