Colorado invests $580 million in 44 transportation projects

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The state of Colorado is making a $580 million investment in transportation through 44 separate projects that will be part of the Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnerships (RAMP) program. The RAMP program was created in December 2012 as a new approach to budgeting and planning to accelerate the completion of transportation projects. RAMP is designed to help Colorado upgrade and maintain its statewide transportation system and these projects will be the next phase of that goal.

The RAMP program has also identified $66 million in operations projects throughout the state. Combined with an additional $800 million dedicated to statewide asset management projects to maintain the system, RAMP will result in approximately $300 million per year increase in project construction for five years, an increase of 50%.

Under the RAMP program, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will fund multi-year projects based on year of expenditure, rather than saving for the full amount of a project before construction begins. This will match project expenditures with available revenues and allow CDOT to fund additional transportation projects over the next five years. CDOT will continue moving forward the RAMP program in addition to the flood recovery efforts and will work with counties impacted by the flooding to determine the best time for project implementation.

The Governor says that these 44 projects will go to improve roadways, make intersections safer and decrease traffic accidents overall. He also emphasized that transportation improvements will also create jobs throughout the state as projects get underway.

“The local and private sector response to this program has been extraordinary, with CDOT receiving a total of 166 applications requesting more than $1.54 billion, over 2 times the total funding available,” said Hunt. “While it demonstrates the continued transportation needs we have statewide, we were also able to extend the reach of our RAMP funds because our local partners also contributed $118 million to these projects and we hope to leverage more from the private sector.