For whom the road tolls

U.S. 36 commuters may get choice

Published May 6, 2007 at midnight

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A cynic might suggest that the prospect of landing a couple hundred million from Washington persuaded the long-standing opponents of toll lanes on U.S. 36 to change their minds and grab the money.

We won't go there. Instead, we welcome the change of heart by the communities that have consistently rejected the use of tolls along that corridor. Fresh thinking from these local leaders might nudge other opponents to reconsider tolls as part of the transportation funding mix, when it's appropriate.

The state will need billions more dollars than it is expected to have over the next few decades to keep up with highway construction and maintenance. Tolls can provide a vital complement to taxes and fees as a funding source, so it's encouraging to see tolling taken seriously.

What caused the turn-around? For one thing, the Federal Highway Administration has set aside about $1 billion to supplement local projects to relieve traffic congestion, so long as tolling and mass transit are incorporated in the plans.

U.S. 36 would certainly qualify. The U.S. 36 Mayors and Commissioners Coalition submitted a bid on April 30 seeking $234.5 million that would pay for one new lane to run in each direction down the median.

The idea is to have these new high-occupancy toll or HOT lanes carry solo drivers who pay tolls, along with buses and car-poolers. The new lanes would eventually complement Bus Rapid Transit, a part of FasTracks that is supposed to run within the same corridor.

The bus-transit system is not scheduled to open until 2016, however. And its completion depends on the ability of the Colorado Department of Transportation to find money to pay for it.

Enter, presumably, the federal grant. If metro Denver wins the bidding process, construction on the HOT lanes could begin in 2009. This infusion of outside cash could ease commuter headaches a few years early, and jump-start the bus-transit system.

The Regional Transportation District could also add as much as $66 million from its FasTracks budget to help pay for the infrastructure that would be shared by the the HOT lanes and eventually the bus-transit system.

A second reason tolling got a fresh look: The HOT lanes would not need concrete barriers to isolate them from the existing free lanes. Solo commuters will have to purchase transponders to use the new HOT lanes, just as they must to drive the HOT lanes along Interstate 25 between Coors Field and U.S. 36. No toll booths.

Unlike the I-25 HOT lanes, though, U.S. 36 will need only repainting to separate HOT lanes from free lanes.

Meeting the region's growing transportation demands will require money and creativity. Tolling isn't always the answer, but it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand, either.

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