The U.S. 24 bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad four miles north of Leadville was built in 1939 and is on the FASTER replacement list this year. It is rated 16.8 on a scale of 100 for structural deficiency. Estimated cost: $4.3 million.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

The Colorado Department of Transportation is considering issuing bonds to speed up the replacement and repair of poor-rated bridges under the FASTER program.

A bond program could enable CDOT’s new Bridge Enterprise – set up to take over ownership, repair, replacement and maintenance of poor-rated bridges – to take on more of the 124 structures on the list that a pay-as-you-go schedule. While bond interest adds to the total cost down the line, financing is often able to beat the higher prices that inflation can bring while waiting until cash is in hand for the work.

In the meantime, accelerating the work puts more people to work in the near-term.

While some FASTER critics have complained that CDOT hasn’t yet begun any bridge repairs under the controversial program, the law that raised automobile registration fees to pay for it also required a brand new set of rules to handle the work.

Two weeks after FASTER became law last spring, CDOT’s governing board, the Colorado Transportation Commission, transferred $5.4 million from its contingency fund to begin design work on potential FASTER bridge projects.

The Bridge Enterprise Fund spelled out in the FASTER legislation has been set up and in August, CDOT transferred actual ownership of the first year’s selection of 19 poor-rated bridges to this new unit within CDOT to help ensure that the funds are spent properly.

And it’s not like work hasn’t been going on. CDOT is in design on the bridge replacements, and the first one goes out to bid soon. It takes time and money to do the job right, and until FASTER passed CDOT didn’t have the money to do the work.

CDOT spelled out its FASTER bridge activities in a recent report you can read here.

In November, the Bridge Enterprise hired consultant L.S. Gallegos and Associates to come up with innovative ways to package the work so that more bridges can be done sooner.

In the meantime, FASTER revenues from the bridge fee and the separate road safety fee have come in more slowly than projected, likely a result of fewer vehicle registrations and in a different mix of weight classes than projected over the first six months.

While initially expected to raise $50.6 million in the 2009-10 fiscal year that runs through June, the FASTER fees are now projected to raise $45.6 million this year — a nine-percent drop from expectations.

Through December, FASTER’s $9 average bridge safety fee collected $19,584,785 in six months. The figures are in the first annual report on the FASTER Bridge Enterprise Fund, set up to ensure the fees go to their intended purpose.

The bridge fee for the average-weight passenger vehicle increases over the next two years to $13.50 and then $18. FASTER also levied a separate road safety registration fee of $23 per average passenger vehicle. Fees for smaller and larger vehicles vary.