Jan. 18, 2006 - 20:07 MST

FROM HERE

This seems to be a local issue, but I wonder just how many states have a similar or the same problem ?

An article in the Rocky Mountain News this morning by Kevin Flynn of that paper is of local and perhaps countrywide interest. In Full:

CDOT'S PLAN FOR TOLL ROADS HITS RESISTANCE

Legislator opposes deals that would hamper free highways

"A Golden legislator who opposes plans for a toll road through that city wants to prohibilt the state from hampering traffic on free roads in order to divert traffic onto toll roads."

"The Colorado Department of Transportation opposes the bill, proposed by Rep. Gwyn Green, because these so-called non-compete agreements could be essential to selling bonds for future toll roads."

"Green's bill, H.B. 1116, would make it illegal for CDOT's tolling enterprise or other entities that buld toll roads to make agreements with cities and counties that have the effect of inhibiting traffic on nearby free roads."

"Intentionally clogging up free roads paid for with tax dollars in order to force drivers to pay again for toll roads is outrageous," said Green, a Democrat. "Toll roads should sink or swim on their own."

"CDOT is studying whether to build the missing segment of the metro beltway as a toll road. It would go through Golden on Colorado 93 and U.S. 6, and is hotly opposed by many in that city."

"CDOT chief Tom Norton said the bill would undermine the state's plans to use tolling as a way of making up for funding short falls."

"The bottom line is that it would make the bonds very difficult to market," Norton said. "In some cases, where free roads are designed to take people to and from the same points as a toll road, they would use the free road to avoid the toll."

"CDOT plans to introduce its first toll facility sometime this year on the high occupancy vehicle lanes of Interstate 25 from downtown to the Boulder Turnpike. It is also planning express toll lanes in the center of C-470 between Wadsworth Boulevard and I-25."

"Critics of toll roads say putting such facilities in an area will lead to lack of improvements on free roads because that could cause the toll roads to lose customers."

"Worse, some non-compete agreements not only ban free-road improvements, but actually call for measures that diminish the current capacity of potentially competing free roads."

"Such was the case with an agreement the E-470 Authority signed with Comnmerce City in 1995. Under it, the city agreed that when the northern segment of the E-470 Toll road between 120th Avenue and Denver International Airport opened in 2003, the city would lower the speed limit on parallel Tower Road from 55 to 40 and install at least three traffic signals at intersections whether they were needed or not."

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The first toll road I know about here in Colorado in modern times is what is commonly called the Boulder Turnpike, which was a toll road until it paid for itself and then became a free road.

This a local matter but I think it has ramifications across our whole country. If the taxpayers are getting to work and the store on free roads -- well then, dammit, according to those in the know -- build a toll road and make it difficult if not impossible to use the free road anymore.

Doesn't look as if CDOT is thinking about paying anything off and looks forward to making tolls permanent.

The old way to get to Boulder from Denver was a rather contorted route involving zig-zagging right angle directions through farmland and little towns. The Boulder Turnpike pretty well cut through all that and became a more direct route, easily driven and more time saving.

The "C" toll road is a giant (or will be) circle around the Metro Denver area, which can be convenient for travelers, much as the loop around Dallas Fort Worth but is not really needed for the citizens of Denver that I can see. Regardless of what their propaganda promised.

The practise of making it more difficult in any way to travel the free roads from point A to point B is reprehensible to my mind. Cutting speed limits and useless traffic lights just to hamper the free movement of traffic on "free" roads is skullduggery to the max, it looks to me.

Of course, early in the article, the reason comes out with the clink of dollars and I quote, "The Colorado Department of Transportation opposes the bill, because these so-called non-compete agreements could be essential to selling bonds for future toll roads." And you sell bonds to build something for which there will be a charge to use and the tolls pay the bonds off. Then what do they plan to do ? l Build more toll roads to block the free roads ?

And then CDOT chief Tom Norton tried to hang himself with his own petard by saying, "The bill would undermine the state's plans to use tolling as a way of making up for funding shortfalls." "In some cases, where free roads are designed to take people to and from the same points as a toll road, they would use the free road to avoid the toll."

Better bet your bippy on that,cowboy. I am a man twice burned on Interstate highways. Very often we will take the long way 'round, the slower way, the one with more traffic lights because an accident or jam on the freeway can hang a person there on the freeway for hours and hours because there are no off ramps to escape the problem. It is the off ramp we just passed seconds ago, you know. Why should I pay to get onto a toll road and be jammed up by accidents or traffic jams ? ? ? ?

But Tom Norton seems to be a very inept person and one who gives the whole ball game away when he says, "Where free roads are designed to take people to and from the same points as a toll road, they would us the free road to avoid the toll." Free roads were there because they were necessary and the taxpayers paid for them, so why should a toll road even be there ? 93 and 6 through Golden are the main roads and they want to toll them ? CDOT seems to be a self perpetuating scheme to make more blacktop roads toll necessary and cover the landscape with fly-overs and utter confusion to the point that even the natives of the area can't find their way around.

While we lived in Florida, what used to be called the Valley Highway (Now I-25) was finished up. It followed the Platte River through town. Nice highway it was, rapid transit for sure. Our problem ? We had to learn many new ways to get from point A to point B as many streets had been cut off by the Valley Highway. We were at the traditional spot where the farmer told the tourist, "Wal, ya take this road ten miles and turn off on to the river road - - - - nah, go back the other way for three miles and turn left on the county road - - - - - uh, that won't work either. Come to think of it, ya can't get there FROM HERE . . . . . . . . .

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