State transportation officials appear ready to partner with a private company to help fund and oversee the proposed $1.8 billion widening and tolling of in northeast Denver.
Most of the members said in a workshop Thursday that a public-private partnership — in which a company would design, build, finance, operate, maintain and repair the highway — is the best route for the project. The company would assume nearly all, if not all, the risk of financing what would be Colorado’s largest road project in its history, commission members said.
This option “would have the private sector taking on the long-term obligations of the project,” said commission member Gary Reiff. “In the long term … this could be the best way to protect the state.”
Bringing in a private firm could also help bridge a $90 million funding gap for the project, said officials.
Others, however, worried CDOT will cede too much authority under a public-private pact while the sheer size of the project will short-change other road repairs around the state.
“To have such a huge project and say ‘It’s not our problem’ is a huge problem for me,” said commission member William Thiebaut.
The commission will make its final decision on the financing of the I-70 improvements Feb. 19.
