Colorado

The last toll collector in Colorado handed in their coin tray for the last time 10pm Dec 31 as the Northwest Parkway went cashless with all-electronic tolling. The parkway's big sister E470 went cashless in the first half of 2009, and the last cash was collected July 3. I-25 HOT Lanes operated by Colorado DOT have always been cashless.

Doug Watt a visitor to Denver was not impressed by service on the Northwest Parkway. "You are the most rinky dink operation I have seen in my life," he declared in an email to the Parkway. Watt said he "sat forever in a line of cars" as each driver tried to figure out an IOU form that is left in a rack beside a booth for motorists using the tollroad between 10pm and 6am when the mainline plaza is unmanned.

Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter has signed into law SB108 giving new powers to state bodies to organize and authorize tolling. The law abolishes the existing Colorado Tolling Enterprise (CTE) and puts in its place a so-called High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE).

A six month old public toll highway authority is just a few weeks away from issuing a request for expressions of interest for a toll concession for the design, finance, construction and operations of Jefferson Parkway a 20km (13 mile) tollroad northwest of Denver. The Jefferson Parkway is a missing link in the '470 beltway' around the Denver area. It will go from CO128 in Broomfield to CO93 at W58Av north of Golden (see map nearby.)

E470 tollroad in the eastern part of Denver CO will become fully electronic and cease cash toll collection July 4 2009.They've coined the term 'Non Stop Tolling' for all-electronic toll collection. First stage of the process will be introduction of camera tolling brandnamed 'License Plate Toll' on Jan 1 2009 under which motorists without transponders will be allowed to whiz through the highspeed electronic toll lanes previously reserved to those with transponders.

A statement embargoed for noon Monday Nov 19 says that the Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority and Portugal based toll operator Brisa together with their Brazilian partner CCR have finalized a 99 year toll concession with financial close on the $603m lease concession.

Steve Hogan exec director of the Northwest Parkway says they are shooting for a financial close with Brisa on their toll concession Nov 19, 20 or 21. He says the delays have been partly from Brisa, the signed-up concessionaire, and partly the mechanics of the defeasance process - lining up the details of how to pay off the existing debt.

E470 Public Highway Authority (E470PHA) in Denver have opened a grand new 2.33km (7645ft) long direct connector being nicknamed the skiers' ramp because it takes northbound E470 tollroad motorists way up and over the complex roadway spaghetti to head westbound on I-70 up into the Rocky Mountains. Ramp H as it is named in the highway planners' jargon is 2 lanes plus shoulders with 493m (1616ft) of steel plate girder bridging in about ten spans, the rest embankment.

E470 may be the second established US toll system after Texas' NTTA to do away with cash toll collection. The board of the E470 Public Highway Authority (E470PHA) Sept 13 heard a proposal from staff for a move to all-electronic tolling (AET). Wilbur Smith Associates will produce a report by December.

The NW Parkway in the Denver area is going to a $603m concession or nearly 80 times toll revenues of $7.62m expected this financial year - a ratio of concession investment to current revenues almost twice that achieved on the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road (about 40x). Concessionaires Brisa/CCS are clearly investing in a stretch of highway they expect to become part of a complete beltway around the Denver area.

Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority's (NWPPPHA) board have approved the terms of a concession under which the Portugese/Brazilian toll operators Brisa/CCR will take over the business of the 2-year old tollroad on the northwest fringe of the Denver metro area.

Brisa must formally notify the Lisbon stock exchange where their shares are listed and CCR must notify the Bovespa or Brazilian stock exchange, Thursday morning local times.

A joint venture of the largest toll operators in Portugal and Brazil has been selected as preferred concessionaire to take over the Northwest Parkway in Denver Colorado. The Brisa/CCR team comprises dominant toll operators in Portugal and Brazil.