FLOYD HILL, Colo. -- The Colorado Department of Transportation needs $20 billion to fund road projects over the next 20 years, the agency’s executive director said Wednesday as he traveled the state this week promoting CDOT projects.
The Colorado legislature provided CDOT with $1.88 billion in this year’s legislative session.
Shailen Bhatt stopped at Floyd Hill at noon to discuss options for widening I-70 at Floyd Hill.
“One of the things we are talking about is coming down a different alignment,” he told Denver7’s Jace Larson.
I-70 could be routed to come down Floyd Hill and then be elevated over Clear Creek and up the side of a hill to a meadow before turning left.
Another option would be to stack one direction of travel on another and keep I-70 along its current path.
Bhatt spent two days touring the state this week talking about transportation and the challenges he says Colorado faces.
He started Tuesday in Colorado Springs before traveling to Pueblo and Vail. He ended near Durango.
He spent time in Castle Rock Wednesday morning before going north to an event at I-25 at Highway 119 and then on to Floyd Hill.
Along I-25, CDOT will build a managed lane in each direction from Fort Collins to Johnstown and extend the current managed lanes from East 120th Avenue to C-470.
Bhatt said CDOT is studying the possibility of extending the current managed lanes south to Broadway.
“Where we are failing and failing badly is in capacity,” he said, noting these projects will help, but not solve the problem. “What we need is money.”
