Money-losing toll road seeks partner
David Milstead, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 29, 2006 at midnight
The Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority, operators of the toll road between Broomfield and E-470, are looking for a private-sector partner to help it get out from under nearly $470 million in debt.
The authority said it received an unsolicited proposal two months ago from investors interested in buying the debt and taking over the toll road. That has prompted the authority board to hire a financial adviser and beging exploring options.
Any private-sector partner would likely retire the authority's debt and lease the road for 50 years.
While traffic on the road is rising — toll revenues were up 34 percent in 2005 — the fallout from Sept. 11 and the tech crash in the Broomfield area have had a negative impact on traffic, authority officials said.
Authority officials say it can continue to meet its debt-service payments and still expects to satisfy all its bond covenants when new ones kick in in 2007. Still, the authority posted a net loss of $40.5 million on $4.2 million in revenue in 2004 and $41.2 million on $5.6 million in revenue in 2005.
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