The Fix North I25 Business Alliance Fix North
The Fix North I-25 Business Alliance Fix. North. I 25. com
What is North I-25? Fix. North. I 25. com
The Problem • I-25 Fort Collins to Longmont lacks adequate capacity resulting in frequent traffic delays • North I-25 is now at Level of Service D • LOS E by 2025 • LOS F by 2035 = 3 hours to Denver and DIA • Population by 2040: +52% Larimer, +111% Weld • Cost to widen Segments 5 -8 (Hwy 14 to Hwy 66): $965 M, but no funding has been committed • Lack of an organized lobbying effort focused on un-widened section North I-25 Fix. North. I 25. com
Hurts Everybody Negative impacts of congestion to: • Employers: access to DIA, access to labor because congestion shrinks laborshed, access to Denver, lost productivity, lost business • Workers: negative impact on quality of life, lost time, access to fewer job opportunities • Local governments: adverse impact on economy means impact on tax base, political pressure on elected officials from unhappy residents Fix. North. I 25. com
Business Needs to Get Involved • Federal, state, local officials need to know how this is impacting business • Keep pressure on, keep attention on solving this problem • Not business’ problem to solve – government’s responsibility – HOWEVER, adversely impacts biz Fix. North. I 25. com
Fix North I-25 Business Alliance • A “permanent” lobbying effort to work on this issue • Fix North I-25 Business Alliance created through Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance • NCLA is joint state / fed lobbying effort of Ft Collins, Greeley and Loveland Chambers, Up. State EDC, NCEDC • Mission: • Help secure $965 M (or however much is necessary)… • …to widen I-25 to 3 lanes each way… • …between Highway 14 and Highway 66… • …by 2025 Fix. North. I 25. com
What Alliance Has Been Doing • Clear focus - vision / guiding principles / goals • Studying highway funding options • ‘highway funding 101’ manual • Lobbying • Public relations Fix. North. I 25. com
Leadership Two Tiered • Leadership Council • • • Tom Gendron, Woodward Troy Mc. Whinney, Mc. Whinney Enterprises Curt Richardson, Otter Products George Hall, Hall-Irwin Construction Total: 15 • Steering Committee • David May (Convener), Sarah Mac. Quiddy, Mindy Mc. Cloughan, Barb Koelzer, Carl Maxey, Pete Gazlay, Bill Becker, Steve Tool, Tambor Williams, Ann Hutchison Fix. North. I 25. com
Lobbying • Direct Lobbying: • U. S. Congressman Bill Shuster, Chair of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee • U. S. Senator Michael Bennet • U. S. Senator Cory Gardner advocated for widening I-25 at Transportation Summit • U. S. Congressman Jared Polis declared widening of I-25 the top transportation project in his district • Governor John Hickenlooper • All Northern Colorado State Legislators Fix. North. I 25. com
Lobbying • Direct lobbying: • Current CDOT Director Shailen Bhatt • Former CDOT Director Don Hunt • Former CDOT Director Tom Norton • CDOT Region 4: Commissioner Kathy Gilliland Director Johnny Olson • North Front Range MPO, presentation • HPTE Board meetings, testified • Gubernatorial Candidate Bob Beauprez Fix. North. I 25. com
Lobbying • Direct lobbying: • Monthly meetings of 13 county and local governments that touch North I 25 – lobbying them to reach agreement to secure $90 M of RAMP funding • Business Leaders • Fort Collins Coloradoan Editorial Board • 2014 Regional Issues Summit • 2015 Transportation Summit Fix. North. I 25. com
2014 -15 Alliance Goals • Get regional consensus on how to use the available $35 M RAMP funding for North I-25 • Support CDOT request for Presidential Challenge Grant and Resilience and Recovery Grant • Protect SB-228 transportation funding during 2015 Legislative Session and get some of it dedicated to widening North I-25 • Work with counties and local governments to determine viability of federal funding through freight corridor or high priority corridor designations • Encourage CDOT to make operational change to move trucks to right on southbound Berthoud Hill • Process in place to build consensus / plan – local funding Fix. North. I 25. com
Results To-Date • $35 M for Crossroads interchange (RAMP) • Commitment to address Berthoud Hill – climbing lane, operational change • Moved north I-25 to top tier of state transportation projects • One vote away from TRANS II Bonds Fix. North. I 25. com
Results To-Date • TRANS II Bond Polling • Three out of four voters view transportation funding as an issue that should be addressed as a top priority in the state’s current budget, and not addressed by creating new fees or raising taxes. • Eight out of ten voters would like to see a portion of the state budget set aside for large, economically significant transportation projects. • Nine out of ten voters view the state’s roads, bridges and infrastructure as in need of repair. Among the 34% of voters who opposed the TRANS II approach, 79% agree with this view. Fix. North. I 25. com
Results To-Date • TRANS II Bond Polling • TRANS II funding approach is supported: • 51% support first ask • Grows to 61% support with more information • Alternative approaches: • 52% support increasing the state gas tax, • 54% oppose increasing license and car registration fees by $20. • Support for increasing the state gas tax is likely to drop below 50% when voters are informed of the specifics of the tax amount. Fix. North. I 25. com
How You Can Help • Fix. North. I 25. com • Sign-up for updates • Sign the online petition • Share the link with others • Donate • Ally • Bumper Stickers Fix. North. I 25. com
Supplementary Slides Fix. North. I 25. com
Future Conditions Population Projections County Today 2040 % increase Larimer 316, 031 481, 193 52% Weld 268, 639 567, 218 111% Traffic Projections Based on T&R Study Location 2012 2035 So. of Harmony Rd 72, 000 110, 600 So. of SH 402 71, 400 112, 900 So. of SH 66 73, 200 114, 400 So. of SH 7 102, 600 157, 800 Current corridor is functioning at LOS D. Projected to go to LOS E by 2025, and LOS F by 2035. Fix. North. I 25. com
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