Directors of the Northwest Parkway approved an increase in the mainline toll on the highway from the current $1.75 to $2 as of Jan. 1.
Although the toll at the mainline plaza will increase, the parkway’s 50-cent toll for travel between the Boulder Turnpike and U.S. 287 will remain unchanged. The toll between the new Sheridan interchange and Interstate 25 also will be 50 cents.
The parkway runs for 11 miles in the northwest quadrant of the metro area, from I-25 to a point near the Boulder Turnpike. About nine of the 11 miles are tolled.
The toll increase is part of the road’s effort to recover from lower-than-expected revenue. Also as part of the recovery, parkway officials are restructuring $428 million in debt. About $212 million of that total will be sold to bond buyers as insured, investment-grade debt. Another $216 million is being sold as an uninsured issue that is riskier for investors. In a document that accompanies the bond sale, parkway officials said toll revenues this year should total $5.7 million,about 55 percent of what was projected by the road’s 2001 traffic-and-revenue forecast.
“Clearly, the economic conditions in northwest Denver the past four years have shown little or no growth in the key indicator of economic activity, employment,” the parkway’s traffic consultant said in the report.
The consultant added that the parkway took a “double hit,” meaning the lack of new employment in the area reduced travel on the toll road, and also that new trips “are not being made on parallel roads, which would have otherwise lowered the speeds on those roads.”
“We got hit with unreasonable expectations,” said parkway Executive Director Steve Hogan.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
