Those promoting the extension of HOV/HOT lanes on U.S. 36 say initial data show future toll revenue from the express lanes may be sufficient to back a key federal loan needed to make the project work.
On Monday, state transportation officials released information showing that tolling single-occupant vehicles in new express lanes added to the 6.8-mile stretch of U.S. 36 between Pecos Street and Wadsworth Parkway would generate enough revenue to back a federal loan yielding about $37 million for construction of the project.
If vehicles with two occupants also were required to pay tolls — and only those with three or more were exempted from paying — the additional toll revenue would back about $53 million in federal loan money, according to data that traffic and revenue consultants presented to the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise, or HPTE.
Their analysis assumes a toll rate between 5 cents a mile and 60 cents a mile, depending on the time of day. The minimum toll would be 25 cents.
HPTE was created by state lawmakers to pursue tolling and other alternative financing options, including public-private partnerships, for Colorado’s cash- strapped highway network.
A recently prepared environmental-impact statement identified a $1.4 billion “preferred alternative” for improving roughly 18 miles of U.S. 36, including a new “managed” express lane in each direction for the full length; replacement of as many as 14 bridges, and other measures.
Because there is no current prospect for raising that much money, officials are exploring a phased approach, which might start with adding one HOV/HOT lane in each direction between Pecos and Table Mesa Drive in Boulder at a cost of $550 million.
Currently, the HPTE operates the 7 miles of HOV/HOT lanes that run on Interstate 25 from near Coors Field to I-25’s junction with U.S. 36, and then the short distance up the Boulder turnpike to Pecos.
Business and government leaders in the U.S. 36 corridor asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for up to $200 million to back a significant portion of the proposed express-lane extension on the highway.
But early this year, the federal agency awarded $10 million to the project, with the possibility that it could serve as a kind of down payment on a federal loan totaling about $53 million for a proposed $160 million HOV/HOT extension from Pecos to Wadsworth.
HPTE’s consultants also studied two other scenarios — adding express lanes between Pecos and Interlocken Loop, an 8.7-mile stretch, for $260 million, or running the express lanes in each direction for the full stretch between Pecos and Table Mesa, an 18.2-mile distance.
The federal loan can be no more than one-third of the project cost.
The numbers released Monday looked only at the Pecos-to-Wads worth segment, but toll traffic and revenue estimates for the other two options should be in next month.
“We want to look at the scenarios beyond Wadsworth because they will yield additional toll revenues,” said Broomfield Transportation Manager Debra Baskett. “With more money to be had, there is so much more of an incentive” for public-private partnerships to get involved. Officials assume such private involvement would be needed to complete the entire Pecos-to-Table Mesa express-lane extension.
The Colorado Department of Transportation already has committed about $30 million to the U.S. 36 HOV/HOT-lane project; RTD has pledged $30 million; and the Denver Regional Council of Governments has committed $25 million.
