DOT, RTD to fund U.S. 36 environmental study

Work is under way on the next step in implementing major changes to ease traffic along U.S. 36.

Four transportation agencies have agreed to foot the bill for an environmental impact statement (EIS) of the plan to alleviate congestion on the highway that connects Denver and Boulder, said Tom Norton, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

After the urging of Gov. Bill Owens, officials of CDOT, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, all under the Department of Transportation, and the Regional Transportation District (RTD), said they will work on a way to pay for the study.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Select your Republic Services residential cart now!

In preparation for Republic Services becoming the primary provider of residential recycling, yard trimmings, and trash, residents should now select the best cart size and service schedule for their household needs.

The EIS will study the preferred package of improvements that was created last winter based on a major investment study (MIS). Norton said a cost estimate for the EIS hasn’t been completed. Debra Baskett, director of the U.S. 36 Transportation Management Organization, estimated the cost of the EIS at $10 million to $15 million during a business community forum about the U.S. 36 improvements held earlier this month.

An EIS, which on average takes five years to complete, determines the cost of a project, its scope and its effect on the environment. Those effects, primarily air quality, are factors in how much federal funding a project will receive.

CDOT is working with the other transportation agencies to determine a funding process. He said discussions have been ongoing for about a month and should continue for the next two to three months, depending on the level of cooperation between the agencies.

Norton said his agency had no firm in mind to handle the EIS.

CDOT wants to complete the (EIS) within 24 months, Norton said.

JoAnn Groff, CDOT commissioner, said if the MIS sits too long on the shelf more public input will be required before moving forward.

The preferred package includes:

· Commuter rail from Denver Union Station to the proposed Boulder Intermodal Center at 30th and Pearl streets ($172 million);

· A bikeway ($15 million);

· Widening the road to six general purpose lanes with high-occupancy vehicle lanes and bus rapid transit ($444 million). The bus rapid transit would use buses like a rail system with five super stops along the center of U.S. 36.

The preferred package would cost $753 million with annual operations costs of about $30 million.

An MIS is conducted without considering financial constraints, Norton said, while the opposite is true for the EIS. “At the end of the EIS, we will have a defined project with a defined cost,” Norton said.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), the metro area’s regional transportation management organization, has included the following U.S. 36 improvements in its 2020 fiscally constrained Regional Transportation Plan:

· $51 million for a westbound high-occupancy vehicle lane extension west to Sheridan Boulevard;

· $337 million in interchange and arterial road improvements.

RTD has approved the preferred package and suggested that DRCOG incorporate it into the updated 2025 DRCOG Regional Transportation Plan.

Traffic volume on the corridor is about 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day and is expected to climb in 2020 to 103,000 to 200,000 vehicles per day.

At the business community forum Louisville Mayor Tom Davidson said he and four other Boulder County mayors met Feb. 9 with Owens to discuss funding for the U.S. 36 improvements. The other mayors making up the Mayors Coalition include Will Toor, Boulder; Bill Berens, Broomfield; Susan Spense, Superior; and Nancy Heil, Westminster.

Owens suggested several ways, including public-private partnerships and asking citizens along the corridor for tax money to fund improvements, said Deputy Press Secretary Amy Sampson, who attended the meeting. Owens supports the mayors’ movement to get the project funded, Sampson said, but he did not promise financial help.

The business community forum drew about 60 business and political leaders. Political leaders who worked on the U.S. 36 study have said a public-private partnership will be necessary to raise the nearly $1 billion needed to make the improvements.

“It’s likely we’ll have to go to some kind of election to get the funding ? probably with sales tax or a toll,” Davidson said. “If it goes to election, the business community will likely be called on to fund the campaign.”

Local governments must raise at least 20 percent of the cost for each project in order to be eligible for federal funding.Contact Alisha Jeter Rhines at research@bcbr.com or (303) 440-4950.