State lawmakers Thursday took their shots at a proposed 50-year contract that allows a private company to manage the Boulder Turnpike and to collect tolls from the highway’s travelers.
Legislators also hinted they may introduce a bill this session that forces more public input on future public-private highway ventures.
“We have a private company that will now be dictating what’s going to happen on that highway,” Sen. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, said Thursday during a joint session of the state transportation committee. “Is this the type of thing that we want to happen in a representative democracy?”
The pending deal between the Colorado Department of Transportation and Plenary Roads Denver has generated rancor as well as claims that their 600-page contract hides trouble for taxpayers.
As many as 19,000 signatures have been added to an online petition asking that lawmakers be given 60 days to review the pending Plenary Roads contract. CDOT has so far refused the request.
A public meeting in Westminster on Wednesday night attracted at least 300 people, most of whom objected loudly to the contract. And even more people gathered Thursday night in Louisville for a second public hearing — one that was moved to a vacant Sam’s Club store to accommodate the large crowd.
“We now have a transparency issue,” said Rep. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction. “There has got to be a smarter way to do this.”
However, CDOT officials, as well as current and former mayors of communities along U.S. 36, defended the pending deal.
They cited sagging revenue and the lack of enthusiasm among voters for new taxes for roads as a big reason to enter into a public-private partnership.
Under the proposed agreement, Plenary Roads will finish the second phase of the $425 million U.S. 36 Managed Lanes project and maintain the entire corridor — including pothole replacement and snow removal — until 2063.
“We count on this project moving forward,” said Westminster Mayor Herb Atchison.
Plenary Roads’ responsibilities also include maintaining Interstate 25 from U.S. 36 to downtown Denver.
Also, Plenary Roads will collect all revenues from the toll lanes currently being built in each direction of the highway. Two general-purpose lanes will be available for those who don’t want to pay a toll.
CDOT executive director Don Hunt told lawmakers the agency and taxpayers will be protected under the contract as Plenary Roads takes on nearly all the financial and maintenance responsibilities of the overhauled highway.
Still, Hunt said, CDOT should have been more aggressive in informing the public about the deal, the first of its kind in the state.
“It’s about transparency, it’s about public involvement,” Hunt said. “We can do better.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
