CDOT commissioners on Wednesday gave tentative approval to a list of 41 safety-related highway maintenance projects that would be funded over the next year with a $79.83 million portion of Colorado’s higher auto registration fees under the FASTER bill.

The Colorado Transportation Commission, which is the 11-member appointed board overseeing the Colorado Department of Transportation, will consider a final vote on the projects next month. With publication of the list, the picture becomes clearer where the state will invest the extra revenue from the controversial fees.

A governor’s panel that spent nearly two years looking into the state’s transportation needs recommended last year that an additional $1.5 billion a year be raised for highways, transit and aviation, with the first $500 million dedicated to “Fix It Now” maintenance of such things as structurally deficient bridges and crumbling roads. You can read the executive summary of that report here or the entire report here.

Even with the needs staring at them from the reports, lawmakers have had a difficult time agreeing on a larger package that would require approval from voters. Instead, they passed FASTER in February to raise fees. The revenue goes to dedicated funds that pay for bridge repair and replacement and road safety projects. The fees will raise $250 million annually starting in the 2011-12 fiscal year – half of the basic maintenance needs.

The schedule of phased-in auto registration fees under FASTER

Also on Wednesday, CDOT commissioners looked at preliminary budget figures for the 2010-11 fiscal year that starts next July. At $1.04 billion, it shows only a slight increase from the current year budget of $969.6 million. Both totals are significantly less than the last three years, which all ran about $1.54 billion a year.

You can review the entire list of FASTER proposed road safety projects here.

CDOT's six transportation regions

Under the proposed apportionment, the largest share would go to CDOT’s Region 4, northeast Colorado from Larimer County to the Nebraska-Kansas lines, which lists $20.6 million spread over 11 projects. The largest of those is $9 million for replacement of the last stretch of Interstate 25 concrete pavement in the region that is rated with “0” Remaining Service Life.

“Concrete is failing with potholes and blowouts resulting in an unsafe driving surface,” the project list notes. “Project will rubblize and repair.”

Northwest Colorado’s Region 3, including as far south as Grand Junction, Delta and Gunnison, is in line for $15.83 million, of which $4 million is scheduled for intersection safety improvements along the Interstate 70 Business Route through the city.

Following that is Region 1, the central plains, Douglas County and the central mountains to Vail Pass, which has been tentatively allocated $15.6 million. Two projects are budgeted for $4.5 million each: Safety rail improvements in Summit County from the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels to Silverthorne, and asphalt overlay of U.S. 285 from Bailey in Park County to Richmond Hill in Jefferson County.

Region 2, southeast Colorado including Colorado Springs, is in line for $11.1 million for two projects, the larger being $8.3 million for the CO 115 intersection at Fort Carson’s Gates 5 and 6.

That project consists of widening for turn and acceleration/deceleration lanes at the gates, where increased traffic is expected with the expansion of Fort Carson.

Region 5, southwest Colorado, has $9.9 million in seven projects. The largest is $5.5 million for passing lanes on U.S. 550 between Ridgway and Colona.

The Denver metro area that is in CDOT’s Region 6 has the smallest portion of the total, $6.8 million for four projects. Of that, $3.8 million is earmarked for replacement of the 84th Avenue bridge over I-25 in Thornton. Region 6 has made replacement of poor-rated bridges a budget priority for 2010.

FASTER – Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery – phases in fee increases over three years, to a range of $29 a year for vehicles under 2,000 pounds to $71 for those over 16,000 pounds. The average passenger car weighs just under 3,500 pounds, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the owner of such a vehicle would pay an extra $41 into the FASTER program annually starting in 2011.

CDOT last month dealt with the bridge allocations from projected FASTER revenue, listing 17 poor rated structures statewide that are up for replacement or repair. On Wednesday CDOT commissioners looked over a draft budget for the bridge “enterprise fund” totaling $73.23 million in spending but with $60.37 million in anticipated revenue. It’s a “paper” deficit, however, as it represents transfers of the actual bridges as assets from CDOT’s regular budget to the separately booked bridge enterprise.

The painstaking work of accounting includes such difficult calculations as figuring out the cost of a snowplow going down the road removing snow from the highway, then separating out the cost of plowing the snow just from the bridge surface to book separately.

The commission also looked at a proposed flow chart establishing how the department relates to the bridge enterprise – even though it’s part of CDOT, its finances must be separate because of the structure set up in FASTER.