Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer, who is the chairman of E-470’s board, told fellow board members Thursday that the toll road may want to consider the possible long-term lease of the highway to private interests as a way to maximize value for the jurisdictions that built and operate the road.
The E-470 Public Highway Authority has board members who are public officials from Arapahoe, Douglas and Adams counties, as well as from the cities of Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Parker and Thornton.
Tauer said some Colorado legislators have discussed the possible takeover of E-470 and that it would be wise for E-470’s board to investigate moves the road could take to control its destiny.
Tauer said E-470 could have value beyond its current debt that could total in the “low hundreds of millions of dollars” and that if the jurisdictions that operate the highway were able to extract that value, they might be able to apply the money to road projects throughout their communities.
E-470 carries about $1.3 billion in debt. If the highway got extra proceeds as part of any financial transaction, the jurisdictions that run E-470 might be able to use the money for needed highway improvements, including those on C-470, U.S. 85, Interstate 270 and Interstate 225, Tauer said.
Edward Icenogle, E-470’s attorney, told the highway’s board members, “There is a market for a road like ours.”
In 2007, a private consortium led by the Portuguese toll-road firm Brisa agreed to lease the Northwest Parkway toll road for 99 years and to pay that highway $503 million to buy out all of its existing bond debt.
The E-470 board will further study the possibility of a long-term lease of the highway.
