DENVER – Two major Colorado infrastructure projects and an energy proposal with Colorado ties are among a list of nationwide infrastructure projects prioritized for federal funding under the Donald Trump administration, according to documents obtained by McClatchy DC and the Kansas City Star.
The documents show that among the projects proposed to be earmarked for federal funding are the I-70 Mountain Corridor, and improving and widening I-25 between Monument and Castle Rock.
Both are also among Colorado's largest infrastructure priorities, which the governor and Legislature have both said they would work to address this year.
The TransWest Express Transmission, a proposed electric grid that would run from Wyoming to Colorado overseen by Denver-based TransWest Express, is also among the projects earmarked in the document.
Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Amy Ford confirmed to Denver7 that the two highway projects are among those the department is seeking federal funding for.
McClatchy DC says the document had made its way through the halls of Congress for the past two months and was obtained by the Kansas City Star.
It also said that it was unclear whether the document was the final version of “Emergency & National Security Projects” or a draft, but noted that the National Governors Association had circulated a similar list with mostly the same projects in December as it asked for further input.
The report says the NGA had asked governors offices nationwide last month for input on the list and that the association had received responses from 43 states, but that the memo was more for information gathering than anything else.
The government would have to approve any proposed funding, so nothing is set in stone.
But the document does outline prospective further costs for the projects, which are currently at various states of planning or completion, and estimated job additions each project would create.
According to the document, the TransWest project would cost $3 billion and create 3,000 direct jobs; the mountain corridor project would cost $1 billion and create 1,000 jobs; and the I-25 improvements would also cost $1 billion and create 1,000 jobs.
It’s unclear if those are the state’s estimates or the federal government’s.
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