Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority officials said Monday that they are talking to a Madrid-based construction firm Isolux Corsán about financing, building and operating the 10-mile toll road in Jefferson County.
The authority has touted the toll highway as one of the final links in the metro-area beltway.
The Jefferson Parkway, which is estimated to cost $204 million, would run from Colorado 128 near Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport to Colorado 93 north of Golden.
Isolux Corsán said it operates more than 1,000 miles of toll highways under concession agreements in Spain, Mexico, Brazil and India.
Brisa, an international highway concessionaire based in Portugal, leased the Northwest Parkway in the north metro area in 2007 for 99 years in a deal valued at about $603 million.
In the past, some officials and residents in Golden and Boulder County have criticized plans to build the Jefferson Parkway.
More recently, Jefferson County officials have worked with counterparts from Golden, Boulder and Boulder County to forge agreements that would dampen opposition to the toll highway.
Golden has been concerned about the dumping of traffic onto Colorado 93 and U.S. 6 in the city. Officials there have been talking with Jeffco officials about an agreement that would make improvements to 93 and 6 but also preserve those roads as local four-lane thoroughfares with speed limits of no more than 45 mph.
Golden Mayor Jacob Smith said Monday that discussions are ongoing with Jeffco officials, and he is hopeful that a settlement can be reached.
But he added Golden is prepared to go to court to try to block the parkway if negotiations aimed at “protecting” the city from possible deleterious effects of the toll road fail.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
