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Colorado Sends List of Priority Infrastructure Projects to Trump Administration

Ken Lund
/
Flickr
I-25, near Castle Rock on the Front Range. The list provided by Colorado officials looks to add additional capacity lanes to north and southbound I-25.

Colorado officials have highlighted seven shovel-ready road and water projects should the Trump administration secure roughly $1 trillion in infrastructure funding. The National Governor’s Association sent that list, along with projects from 48 other states and territories, to the Trump administration on Feb. 8.

Colorado’s list includes adding two urgent projects -- an express lane heading west into the mountains on I-70 and adding capacity lanes along the northern and southern parts of I-25. It also includes water projects and one to expand rural broadband.

“The question is how to pay for a system that has been very under-funded nationwide for a while now,” said Amy Ford, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation. The department projects a $9 billion shortfall over the next decade.

“That’s why you see projects like this on these lists,” Ford said. “Since this is a priority of the new president’s administration -- to really identify those areas and the impacts projects like that could have on the country, on our infrastructure, on economic development.”

The National Governor’s Association said it submitted a total of 428 shovel-ready projects from 49 states and territories.

This comes as Colorado’s state lawmakers are trying to find a way to inject more money into roads and infrastructure. Leaders in both parties are discussing a variety of options, including sending a ballot question to voters.

Capitol Coverage is a collaborative public policy reporting project, providing news and analysis to communities across Colorado for more than a decade. Fifteen public radio stations participate in Capitol Coverage from throughout Colorado.

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