LAKEWOOD, Colo.—U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood helped break ground on Colorado’s latest highway stimulus project on Tuesday, praising the state for choosing to fix a busy stretch of a metro Denver roadway as well as a bike path that runs alongside it.
Portions of a 26-mile stretch of the C-470 bike path will be reconstructed for $5 million. Concrete slabs on a 5-mile stretch of C-470 near Interstate 25 south of Denver will also be resurfaced for another $27 million. The combined project is the largest stimulus project so far in Colorado.
LaHood joined Gov. Bill Ritter and U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Betsy Markey for a ceremony at a section of the bike path near Bandimere Speedway. The path is cracked down the middle and large weeds are growing out in spots, leading some cyclists to skip this portion of the path and ride along the nearby road instead.
LaHood said making it easier for people to bike helps the environment and said the federal stimulus money overall is helping states stretch their transportation dollars.
“This money is being well spent. There’s no earmarks, no boondoggles and no sweetheart deals,” said LaHood, who is on a weeklong visit to Western cities. On Wednesday, he’s set to be in Portland to learn more about plans to use street cars to encourage people to drive less.
The main contractor, Castle Rock Construction Company, estimates six to 10 new jobs will be created because of the project when 15 subcontractors and a half dozen suppliers are taken into account.
Castle Rock co-owner Don Hanneman said his company would be laying off workers now if not for the project and two other smaller stimulus jobs. He estimates that the C-470 work will save between 150 to 200 jobs at his company and the others working on the project.
Colorado is getting about $400 million for highway projects and another $103 million for mass transit from the stimulus package. Contracts have been signed to spend about 60 percent of the highway money and the state says 12 projects are either underway or about to begin.
However, the state has also been losing regular federal aid for highway projects because the federal Highway Trust Fund has been running out of money. The fund is expected to go broke by Aug. 21 due to declines in gas and truck sales tax revenue because of the recession and more people driving more fuel efficient vehicles.
Colorado Department of Transportation director Russ George said Colorado got $200 million less in regular transportation aid than it expected to over the last five years, including $30 million this year. He said the problem is serious because the state relies on the money to fund ongoing projects it’s already committed to.
“If they run out of money, we could get trapped somewhere,” he said.
He said the department has been lobbying in Washington to come up with more highway funding.
LaHood said the Obama administration was committed to coming up with the $20 billion needed to keep the fund solvent and he thinks members of Congress will come up with a solution before they head back to their districts in August. He didn’t give any details on where the money would come from.
“We will find the money and it will be paid for,” he said.
