Asphalt resurfacing of I-25 between 6th and 23rd avenues, funded almost entirely by federal stimulus money, is underway.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s spending of federal stimulus money on road projects so far has been spread over 25 contractors, who are handling 40 projects either completed, under construction or under contract.

Another seven projects have money allocated to them under the Obama Administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Figures from a CDOT report from the end of August show that CDOT has allocated $293.6 million out of its $330 million share of the total of $403.9 million in highway stimulus money coming to state, county and local governments.

You can view a map of Colorado’s stimulus-funded highway projects here.

Colorado easily met the federal deadline of committing at least half of its stimulus transportation funding allocation by late June. In fact, Colorado met that halfway mark on May 7, according to information from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

CDOT’s stimulus-funded highway projects are in addition to transit projects and other local projects around the state.

According to the August report, three projects are completed. They are resurfacing Belleview Avenue between Federal Boulevard and Santa Fe Drive, resurfacing University Boulevard between C-470 and Arapahoe Road, and installing safety cable guardrail in the Interstate 70 median between Peña Boulevard and Tower Road.

Extensive replacement of poor concrete panels on C-470 is underway. CDOT Photo.

Another 27 projects are currently under construction. They include such diverse jobs as $12.25 million toward the concrete reconstruction of a nine-mile stretch of the U.S. 40/287 Ports to Plains Corridor near Boyero, between Limon and Kit Carson, $8 million toward the asphalt resurfacing of Interstate 70 over Vail Pass, and $31.47 toward the replacement of poor concrete on C-470 between I-25 and Santa Fe Drive.

Ten more jobs are under contact but not yet started as of the end of August. They include construction of a grade-separated interchange on U.S. 285 south of Conifer at Shaffers Crossing and widening of the I-70 interchange at Palisade.

The asphalt resurfacing of Belleview Avenue between Federal Boulevard and Santa Fe Drive was one of the first CDOT stimulus projects to be completed. CDOT Photo.

Future projects include $21.66 million toward the total $43 million replacement of the Alameda Avenue bridge over Interstate 25 in Denver, which will be advertised for bids next month. The widened bridge and reconstructed interchange at Alameda will provide room for the eventual addition of lanes on I-25 under the now-too-narrow bridge. The six-lane stretch of I-25 between Santa Fe Drive and Alameda is one of the remaining bottlenecks on the freeway, which otherwise if eight to 10 lanes through metro Denver.

CDOT’s report lists 25 contractors on 40 of the jobs that have been awarded. One company, Elam Construction, has four contracts, in Rio Blanco, Saguache, Alamosa and Rio Grande counties. Three companies, Asphalt Paving, SEMA Construction and Castle Rock Construction, have three contracts each.

Companies with two contracts each are Aggregate Industries, DKS Enterprises, LaFarge West, Scott Contracting, Sturgeon Electric, United Companies and W.L. Contractors.

Other companies with CDOT stimulus contacts are APC Southern Construction, Brannan Sand and Gravel, Colorado Boring, Edward Kraemer and Sons, Heyl Construction, Hudick Excavating, Ideal Fencing, Interstate Highway Construction, Jalisco International, Lawrence Construction, Lawson Construction, New Design Construction. Tezak Equipment and Zak Dirt.

According to a July 31 report from the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Colorado placed 23rd among the 50 states in the ranking of states by the percentage of their total stimulus money they had obligated to highway projects. At the time, Colorado had obligated two-thirds of its total, including both CDOT and local transportation agencies.

Here is the list and the percentage of funds committed:

Maine 100
Iowa 99.46
Wyoming 94.97
Oklahoma 85.89
Rhode Island 83.78
West Virginia 82.96
Tennessee 82.48
Florida 82.12
Mississippi 81.91
Pennsylvania 80.42
New Hampshire 79.40
Illinois 78.83
Washington 75.42
New Jersey 70.93
Alabama 70.7
Utah 69.42
California 69.17
Minnesota 67.93
Idaho 67.88
Wisconsin 67.55
New York 66.9
Kentucky 66.71
Colorado 66.4
Indiana 65.81
Maryland 65.72
New Mexico 62.30
Missouri 61.65
Kansas 61.14
North Carolina 60.29
Connecticut 60.09
Arizona 59.27
Georgia 58.57
Vermont 58.24
Montana 57.30
Alaska 57.00
Oregon 56.97
Louisiana 54.23
North Dakota 53.08
Delaware 52.77
South Dakota 50.87
Texas 50.04
Ohio 48.49
South Carolina 47.18
Nebraska 46.95
Michigan 46.43
Massachusetts 44.44
Arkansas 42.03
Hawaii 41.31
Virginia 41.07
Nevada 35.01