Colorado

Colorado DOT and a so called High Performance Transportation Enterprise of the state are seeking private sector proposals for improving travel in the I-70 Mountain Corridor west of Denver toward Silverthorne, Vail and Eagle.  They are looking for competitive proposals to an unsolicited proposal from transit specialist Parsons.

Colorado DOT's tolling arm HPTE has issued an RFQ for a toll concession on 23 miles, 37km of I-25 and US36 Denver-Boulder. The concession is to toll and operate a mix of existing HOT lanes (carpoolers, buses and toll payers), HOT lanes starting construction, and HOT lanes to be constructed under the 50-year concession.

The project involves:

E-470 the toll belt route around the eastern side of the Denver CO metro area reports 2011 as the best year since 2007. Traffic was 52.1m in 2011, 1.6% up on 2010's 51.3m, making it the third year of growth since the 2008 crash. This in spite of a toll increase.

Revenue rose from $94.3m to $107.7m, 14.2% up 2011/2010.

Operating costs were squeezed a further 2% on this now all-electronic tollroad without any toll collectors.

In the Denver Colorado area the E-470 Public Highway Authority are raising their posted maximum speeds to 75mph from the present 70mph (to 121km/hr from 113km/hr) taking the posted number somewhat closer to actual traffic speeds. On about two-thirds of the highway 85% of the traffic is at present traveling at 78mph, 126km/hr or less (orange on maps).

At Colorado's E470 tollroad they say they've just passed the 3/4 million mark in transponders in use. They passed the half million mark March 2008, so in three years they added the extra quarter million.  Some of this appears to be the result of going all-electronic.

E470 Public Highway Authority in the Denver area has a substantially new board following local government elections. And it has a new board chairman, Frank Weddig, a commissioner from Arapahoe County which is located across the central segment of the tollroad just south of I-70.

John McCuskey, acting executive director (ED) of E-470 was appointed full executive director by the tollroad's board on Dec 9. McCuskey, 60, has been acting-chief at the Denver area pike since the sudden death-on-the-job of longtime exec-director, Ed DeLozier in April this year.  

The succession is undramatic.

Jefferson County is looking for a developer/concessionaire to take on the first build of the Jefferson Parkway, another stage in the development of a belt route for the Denver metro area, and an important north south connector for the county. The Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority (JPPHA) has scheduled a "Bidders' Conference" in the county offices in Arvada CO, December 14.

The E-470 Public Highway Authority (E470) board of directors decided recently they'd take advantage of all-electronic tolling to do annual toll increases. Traditionally with cash-handling, tollers have attempted to keep their tolls changes to quarters - avoiding the need to handle awkward combinations coins with dimes and nickels - so they have tended to do the larger quarter-related toll adjustment every three years or so.

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.