Roads and highways across Colorado, particularly in the Front Range corridor from Fort Collins to Pueblo, and from the eastern Denver suburbs to Vail and beyond, are quickly deteriorating and are in desperate need of maintenance,upkeep, and improvements. Many highways are markedly over safe capacity and are being used by triple to quadruple the number of vehicles the highways and roads were designed for. There are thousands of lane miles in need of improvements such as safety improvements (permanent weatherproof lane, median, and shoulder stripings and markings with rumblestrips); additional lighting and signage; expansion of on/off ramps and extensions of acceleration/deceleration lanes; construction of additional lanes, HOV lanes, buslanes, and corridors for lightrail and other mass transit; and reconstruction and widening of bridges and overpasses. All projects need to also include safety and access improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists.I-25 is in need of serious work throughout the far southern part of the immediate metro Denver area (south of County Line Road to Castle Rock) and north from I-270 to 144th Avenue; I-70 needs work from east of Quebec to east of the Mouse Trap at Brighton Boulevard and west from Pecos to the I-76 interchange and west from Kipling to the C-470 interchange and then westward well into the mountains; I-270 needs extensive work virtually its entire length from York to I-70; I-76 needs work from its western start near Wadsworth northeast past Brighton; C-470 is in bad shape from 1-25 west past Santa Fe and very soon all the way west and north to I-70; I-225 needs intense attention from Colfax south to Parker; US6 needs major work from east of I-25 clear west past Colfax and into Golden; US36 (Boulder Turnpike) needs extensive improvements from west of Federal northwest all the way into Boulder. and US 285 needs tremendous improvements from C-470 east past Santa Fe and beyond to I-25. Santa Fe Drive/US 85 needs to be converted into a full freeway from Castle Rock north and west to C-460 and north from Highlands Ranch through Littleton, Englewood, and on into Denver with a terminus at Alameda Avenue. Wadsworth Boulevard needs to be converted into a full freeway from C-470 north to US6 and from I-70 north to Broomfield and perhaps all the way to Longmont. Alameda needs to be made into an expressway from Leetsdale east past I-225 to Buckley Avenue. Arapahoe Road needs to be a full freeway from west of Havana to well east of Parker Road. Parker Road need substantial improvements to a make a safer expressway from west of Havana and east and south to the town of Parker. A new freeway to parallel I-25 needs to be constructed from SE Castle Rock to E-470 east of I-25. 120th Avenue should be converted into a freeway/expressway from just east of Broomfield east to Tower Road. And construction of the Prairie Falcon Freeway from north of Greeley going south to the north side of Pueblo needs to be started upon within a few years.
Statewide, I-25 needs work from Wellington south to Erie; and from south of Castle Rock to south of Pueblo. Numerous state highways from the Four Corners region through the mountains and northwest plateau and out on the eastern plains are in need of upgrades and expansion. The list of surface streets and arterials is very lengthy and would have to be quite detailed to be included here. Getting the Heartland Expressway Freeway in Eastern Colorado constructed and built connecting I-27 out of Amarillo north into Colorado using US 287 as a guide to Limon and then north to near Sidney, Nebraska is another project that needs to be have ground broken on in the next few years
The cost of addressing all of Colorado's current and looming transportation issues would be near $500 billion. The only logical way to secure funding for all the necessary projects that need to be done over the next generation is through a change and an in increase fuel taxes (from a cents per gallon basis to a percentage per gallon basis); a dedicated sales tax of 1 1/2 to 3 percent on all sales of auto parts, accessories, equipment, services, and chemicals; an excise tax of 8 to 10 percent on all motor vehicle sales in excess of $25,000 with additional excises on vehicle prices exceeding $50K and $60K; and increased fines on violations of the motor vehicle code with greater enforcement and fines on largely ignored offenses such as loud bass stereo noise audible from more than 10" from the vehicle, illegal suspension and exhaust systems, and vehicles that have excessive window tinting.
It is possible to get Colorado's roads and highways modernized and upgraded, but it will have to come for a variety of funding sources, and not just by skyrocketing registration fees which will only encourage and often necessitate avoidance of compliance by the poor and working class.
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