Paying upfront for roads and bridges is smart use of dollars

Colorado's transportation system is on life support.

Consider the following findings from TRIP, a national transportation nonprofit research group:

»Nearly one-third of Colorado's major roads and highways have pavements in poor or mediocre condition.

»Colorado has 122 (and counting) structurally deficient bridges throughout the state.

»Seventeen percent of bridges in Colorado show significant deterioration or do not meet current design standards.

These are roads and bridges that we rely on everyday to get our children safely to school, transport goods to market and ensure we're to work on time. And, they are roads and bridges that are deteriorating beneath us. Chances are, regardless of where you live or conduct business throughout the state, you are driving on one of these deteriorating bridges or roads almost every day.

Simply put, our bridge and highway system was never designed, nor is it currently maintained, to meet existing daily capacity and load demands. And with our population projected to jump from today's 4.7 million to 6.2 million in 2020, things are only going to get worse.

Legislators from both parties worked hard near the end of the legislative session to solve this crisis. Ideas ranged from tolling to the establishment of new dedicated funding sources to the evaluation of ways to better utilize existing funding sources and more.

As Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, whose leadership on this issue is commendable, accurately puts it: "If this was easy, it would have been done a long time ago."

While all of the ideas eventually ended up on the edit room floor, the Herculean effort of Rep. Rice and numerous others was not in vain. There is now more awareness of the critical state of our state's roads and bridges than ever before. And, there is strong conviction from several legislators -- both Republicans and Democrats -- to find a solution during the months ahead.

The Colorado Department of Transportation is doing an extraordinary job of keeping our transportation system safe under an increasingly challenging scenario. The unfortunate reality is that there's just not enough money to do the job that needs to be done to maintain the safety and reliability of the system in the long term.

Last month alone, the State Transportation Commission cut the surface treatment program in half in a year where we had record snowfall resulting in the greatest anticipated road and bridge repair needs in recent history.

There's also a direct hit to the pocket books of all Coloradans. TRIP estimates that driving on roads in need of repair costs Colorado's motorists an astounding $979 million -- $293 per driver --annually in extra vehicle operating and repair costs. When you consider that, a few extra dollars in upfront user fees or a toll will likely end up actually saving you the money in the long run.

If we don't act soon, we will quickly find ourselves having to make the tough choices of the roads and bridges we should resuscitate and those we'll keep on life support in hope of a miraculous recovery. That is simply unacceptable.

Tony Milo is a MOVE Colorado board member and member of the Colorado Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel.