Proposed 2016-2017 Colorado budget would cut transportation funding

Updated Apr 5, 2016

statecapitolwestside-statueColorado’s new $27 billion budget for fiscal year 2016-2017 was introduced to the state house on March 28 and according to WesternSlope Now.com, lawmakers will pull $2.7 million from reserve funds to make up for a shortfall created by cuts to specific funds, such as transportation.

CDOT gets most of its funding from state and federal gas taxes, which have remained at a static 22 cents per gallon since 1993, but it also relies on money from the state. Colorado Public Radio reports that the proposed budget guarantees $150 million in road funding, which is 25 percent less than the maximum amount it could have received, though the cuts could have been worse.

Transportation officials are insisting the state’s transportation funding is too vital in the face of the cuts after a 2013 study gave the state’s bridges and roads a “D” rating.

Like many other state transportation departments, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) faces a funding shortage and says it only has enough money to maintain its highway system in its current condition for the next 10 years.

“Our budget really hasn’t grown to the point where we can add capacity kind of projects. We’re really in the stage of maintaining the current infrastructure that we have,” CDOT representative Tracy Trulove tells the news agency.