One of the two steel truss bridges carrying US 50 over the Gunnison River in Gunnison that is on CDOT's wish list to repair with federal funds next year. CDOT photo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

The Colorado Department of Transportation has put 40 highway and airport projects totaling $136.8 million on its wish list for federal grants in 2011.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Transportation awards what it calls discretionary grants, over and above each state’s usual formula funding, in targeted areas such as bridge repair, interstate maintenance, scenic byways and others.

There are 31 highway projects on the list, totaling $90.3 million, and nine airport projects totaling $46.5 million. You can read the entire CDOT list here.

Because it focuses on specific needs, discretionary funding can quickly be put to good use – a series of such grants was used by CDOT to replace the old Interstate 25 viaduct over Broadway and the railroad mainline at the same time T-REX was under construction, allowing both new projects to open at the same time and effectively making the T-REX improvements go a little bit farther.

The federal government sets up funding in various categories and then solicits candidate projects from the states. Projects are selected based on how well they fit the criteria for each category.

This US 24 bridge over California Gulch three miles south of Leadville, built in 1934, is one of those up for replacement if CDOT wins a federal discretionary grant it is seeking for next year. CDOT photo.

Other requests include $6.6 million to replace the Sixth Avenue Freeway bridge over Sheridan Boulevard, on the Denver-Lakewood line; $5.5 million for four miles of concrete resurfacing on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon; $5 million to reconstruct I-70 in concrete from Tower Road to Colfax Avenue, and $4 million to replace the CO 120 span over the Arkansas River and Union Pacific Railroad in Fremont County.

The Sixth Avenue bridge and the CO 120 bridge are two of the 124 poor-rated bridges in the state that are part of the FASTER program. Drivers are being charged an average of up to $18 a year extra on their vehicle registrations to replace poor-rated bridges under the law passed last year. The Sixth Avenue span was built in 1961 and is rated 45.1 on a scale of 100 as structurally deficient. The Fremont County bridge is a steel truss structure built in 1927 and is rated 17.9 for being functionally obsolete.

You can take a photo tour of the 124 bridges on a map of the state by clicking here.

Among the airport projects for which funds are being requested are $13 million to extend the runway at Aspen’s Sardy Field; $7 million for a wildlife fence at Walker Field in Grand Junction; $7 million for an apron extension at Denver International Airport; $5 million for taxiway rehabilitation at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, and $4 million for runway rehabilitation at Front Range Airport.

While CDOT isn’t likely to get all it asks for, it will enlist the help of the state’s congressional delegation to push for them.

There’s reason for that.

CDOT says the projects are a priority that “address pressing needs of the state transportation system.” They are already on the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program and were selected in consultation with the Statewide Transportation Advisory Committee. The Colorado Transportation Commission approved the list at its January meeting.