Castle Rock – Douglas County’s squabble with Colorado transportation officials over who has final control over road- building decisions moved to the courtroom Tuesday, with the state arguing it supersedes local authority.
Last year, Douglas commissioners approved regulations that require the Colorado Department of Transportation to get county approval for any state plan to build new highways or interchanges, or expand existing ones.
In part, the commissioners’ action was aimed at blocking CDOT’s plan to add toll lanes in the median of C-470.
In December, CDOT sued Douglas to nullify the county-permit requirement.
On Tuesday, state Assistant Attorney General Megan Rundlet told a Douglas County district judge that CDOT can’t allow Colorado’s counties and cities to usurp its right to make the final decision on building state highways.
CDOT’s road projects could be delayed “for months, even years,” if officials from Douglas, and possibly other counties and cities, can force the state to clear projects with local officials.
Local governments have the opportunity during CDOT’s highway planning process to air concerns about projects, but the state agency retains the final decision-making authority, Rundlet said.
At the hearing before Judge Charles Pratt, Douglas County attorney Lori Potter said, “When it comes to noise, traffic and safety for its residents,” the county has the right to exercise its own power in the highway-planning process.
The backdrop for the dispute is CDOT’s proposal to add express toll lanes, at a cost of $325 million, in the median of C-470 from Interstate 25 to South Kipling Parkway.
Douglas officials say toll lanes could allow some commuters to buy their way out of congestion, but there’s the possibility the lanes will add to backups and accidents, instead of reducing them.
County officials favor the addition of non-tolled lanes instead, and Douglas is exploring the possible creation of a regional taxing authority for that purpose.
Pratt said he would issue a written decision in the case, and he acknowledged his ruling would most likely not resolve the issue.
However he rules, Pratt said, the decision probably will be a “bump in the highway on the way to the Court of Appeals.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
