Colorado transportation commission approves $39.4 million in agreements and $22.7 million for bridge work

The Colorado Transportation Commission approved $39.4 million in active transportation agreements and a second supplement to the Colorado Department of Transportation’s 2026-27 budget Aug. 20. The Statewide Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise also approved $22.66 million for four bridge projects, including an $18.65 million rehabilitation of two U.S. 50 bridges over the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

The commission also authorized disposal of a 17,525-square-foot CDOT parcel at 7701 W. 120th Avenue in Broomfield. The property includes a concrete masonry unit building on about 0.402 acres. CDOT acquired it in 1941, and the Colorado State Patrol used it from 1984 through 2024. The commission declared the parcel excess land because it is no longer needed for transportation purposes and authorized its disposal for fair market value, the commission’s resolutions packet says.

The packet does not disclose an appraisal amount, valuation date or other valuation conditions. Before a market-value sale, eligible political subdivisions have a statutory right of first refusal. The record does not identify which subdivisions CDOT will notify or provide the deadline and procedures for exercising that right. If no subdivision exercises it, CDOT plans to sell the property at fair market value. Proceeds would go to future transportation projects, and CDOT would be relieved of maintenance responsibilities and liability.

The commission’s intergovernmental-agreement resolution passed unanimously and authorizes CDOT to execute the listed agreements, amendments and option letters. The $39.39 million total includes $11.27 million for the I-25 Happy Canyon interchange in Castle Pines, $14.02 million for Wheat Ridge’s Tabor Street multimodal improvements, $5.31 million for U.S. 287/U.S. 34 intersection improvements in Loveland and $2.69 million for Boulder County’s CO 119 First and Final Mile Connections. Substantial changes to project scope or funding must return to the commission.

The separate BTE action funds construction on four projects:

• U.S. 50 Blue Mesa bridges: $18,646,237 to rehabilitate bridges K-07-A and K-07-B in Gunnison County.
• U.S. 50A near Penrose: $2,268,529 to repair bridge K-17-H in Fremont County.
• CO 70A in Mesa County: $1,621,928 to repair bridges H-02-FI and H-03-AY.
• Railroad crossings east and west of La Jara: $126,806 to repair bridge O-12-AD in Conejos County.

All four projects were scheduled for advertisement in fall 2026. The BTE materials forecast construction spending of $2.10 million in fiscal 2026-27 and $1.92 million in fiscal 2027-28 but do not provide construction-start or completion dates, closure durations, detours or traffic-control plans.

The Blue Mesa rehabilitation is the largest project. It includes deck repairs, overlays, expansion-joint and bearing repairs, pier-cap strengthening, concrete and steel repairs, drain extensions, and steel cleaning and painting. The bridges carried about 3,100 to 3,300 vehicles per day in 2024, with 12% to 13% truck traffic. The packet says the work is intended to extend their service lives by at least 30 years but does not explain how traffic will be managed.

The commission also approved nearly $4.6 million to reimburse emergency repairs to the southbound U.S. 85-to-eastbound C-470 flyover in Douglas County. CDOT declared an emergency after inspections found severe cracking and separation at a pier cap. Contractors installed temporary shoring, replaced the pier cap and reseated girders. The flyover reopened June 19 after a continuous seven-day closure; the work was substantially complete and accepted July 22. Final seeding was planned after Sept. 15.

Budget transfers do not establish delays

The budget supplement moved $3,816,870 from U.S. 550 safety improvements between Montrose and Ouray County to the Grand Junction Mobility Hub. It also moved $1,079,132.51 from I-70 Pegasus Bustang Park-n-Rides and $2 million from the Castle Rock Mobility Hub to the Lone Tree Mobility Hub.

The approved record does not give a project-specific reason for either transfer. It says the requests met CDOT’s Policy Directive 703.0 criteria, were consistent with the 2027-30 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program and had funding available from existing program allocations. It does not say whether the projects losing money will be delayed, reduced, canceled or otherwise changed. The resolution reduces their 10-year-plan lines and adds corresponding amounts to the Grand Junction and Lone Tree hubs, but the effect on schedules remains unresolved.

Happy Canyon budget action is pending

The Happy Canyon bridge replacement is not part of the $22.66 million BTE construction supplement. The planned replacement of poor-rated bridge G-17-AG, which carries both directions of Happy Canyon Road over I-25, has a proposed BTE contribution of $11,267,834.32 for design, construction and maintenance.

The August BTE materials said staff would return in September to seek ratification of the funding agreement and approval of a budget supplement. The commission separately approved the agreement list Aug. 20, including the three-way Castle Pines-Happy Canyon agreement. The available records do not confirm the separate BTE budget action.

The BTE materials projected that about $137.08 million would remain in the fiscal 2026-27 capital construction program after the $22.66 million supplement. That is a conditional balance in the August budget materials, not a post-vote accounting statement. The first Happy Canyon interchange construction package was scheduled to begin in fall 2026, with the package containing the bridge replacement scheduled for early 2027. No completion date, closure duration or detour plan was provided.