Two groups advocating for improvements to Interstate 25 from north Denver to Fort Collins are asking members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation to siphon over $660 million from the proposed $2 trillion federal infrastructure plan to fund changes along the crowded highway.
The North I-25 Coalition and the Fix North I-25 Business Alliance sent a letter, in April, to Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper as well to Representatives Joe Neguse, Ken Buck and Ed Perlmutter requesting they get the $660,557,000 necessary to expand north I-25.
The letter cites north I-25 as one of the country’s strategic transportation corridors and the need to expand the highway to three lanes plus other mobility features. “Full build of the North I-25 Express Lane corridor will assure critical trip predictability and congestion mitigation to allow the region to achieve important greenhouse gas emission reductions from the transportation sector,” the letter states.
The two groups want to position north I-25 for funding under the proposed $2 trillion American Jobs Plan and its “significant infrastructure investment component,” the letter states .”We stand united in our request to you to join together to put forth North I-25 as a project for ‘earmarked’ dollars from this forthcoming opportunity.”
Both North I-25 Coalition and Fix North I-25 Business Alliance have lobbied for road improvement projects around the state and helped provide about $3.5 billion in transportation funding from the state general fund and other finance tools, the letter states. “In helping others, we helped ourselves and have had nearly $1 billion allocated by CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) for the North I-25 Express Lane project,” according to the letter.
Even with funding already secured for the corridor, the express lane project is still short of the $660 million needed to complete the project with no near-term source of funding dedicated or allocated, the letter states.
The North I-25 Coalition, founded in September 2013, includes local government mayors, commissioners and council members along the I-25 corridor. The coalition — chaired by Weld County Commissioner Scott James — has produced millions in local matching funds for the north I-25 corridor, the letter states.
The region’s business community founded the Fix North I-25 Business Alliance in early 2014. It is chaired by Barbara Koelzer and is a project of the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, the joint advocacy arm of the Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley Chambers of Commerce with Upstate Colorado and One NoCo Economic Development, the letter states.
