WESTMINSTER — Communities in the U.S. 36 corridor will bid for as much as $200 million in federal stimulus money to help extend high-occupancy vehicle/high-occupancy toll lanes on the highway from Pecos Street to Table Mesa Drive in Boulder.
An environmental study identified the addition of one HOV/HOT lane in each direction as a core element in the first phase of improvements for the corridor, along with a parallel bikeway and upgrades to key interchanges.
The “managed lanes,” as they are called, would be reserved for carpools, buses and single-occupant vehicles that pay a toll, much like the HOT lanes that run from Pecos and U.S. 36 to downtown Denver near Coors Field.
Planners have spent six years and about $25 million on an environmental impact statement for the 18-mile U.S. 36 corridor. Federal transportation officials are expected to give final approval to the EIS by the end of this year.
On Wednesday, government officials, including Democratic U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis, and business leaders from the corridor gathered at Westminster’s City Park Recreation Center to mark completion of the environmental review and face the next challenge — securing $200 million from the U.S. Transportation Department’s “TIGER” grant program. (A second bid for $100 million also will be made.)
TIGER stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has $1.5 billion in funds to distribute nationally.
Applications for TIGER grants are due Sept. 15, and federal officials are expected to make awards in January.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is backing seven TIGER applications for transportation projects across the state, including the U.S. 36 bid. The other six projects total about $263 million.
“Competition is going to be fierce, but we think our application is rock solid,” Westminster Mayor Nancy McNally said. “Now that the EIS is nearly complete, we will have a project that is shovel-ready.”
The price tag for all improvements to U.S. 36 identified in the environmental study, which includes lane expansion and reconstruction of as many as 14 bridges in the corridor, is $1.3 billion.
The initial phase, which includes the HOT-lane extension, the bikeway and improvements to interchanges at Wadsworth Parkway and Sheridan Boulevard, will cost $530 million, said Moe Awaznezhad, a CDOT engineer who has been one of the agency’s principal participants in the environmental study.
“It’s difficult to say how far we can stretch that $530 million,” Awaznezhad said of the uncertainty over how much work can be accomplished in the project’s first phase.
The Regional Transportation District has programmed about $208 million in its FasTracks budget for transit improvements in the corridor.
The road proposals
The Colorado Department of Transportation is co- sponsoring seven projects:
• HOT lane extensions and improvements for U.S. 36: up to $200 million
• Environmental, safety and improvements to U.S. 6, U.S. 40 and Colorado 119: $71.5 million
• Eagle County Airport/Interstate 70 interchange: $70 million
• Interchange for Powers Boulevard near the entrance to Peterson Air Force Base: $50 million
• Reconstruction of the Interstate 25/Colorado 392 interchange: $27 million
• Improvements to U.S. 40/U.S. 287, the “Ports to Plains” corridor: $24.4 million
• Improvements to the interchange of the I-70 business road and Grand Junction’s 29 Road as part of the city’s loop: $20 million
Source: Colorado Department of Transportation
