Even having a $1.2 billion annual total budget is not sufficient for the Colorado Department of Highways to allow any construction/modernization program for the foreseeable future. Highway users in our state will be forced to continue to drive dangerous, obsolete state highways for many years. This is the message stated in the April 11 edition of the Sentinel.

The solution is, unfortunately, in the hands of our elected politicians, who generally worry more about getting re-elected than about solving some of the state’s more pressing problems. Gov. Bill Ritter’s task force on highway financing presented all the facts about the dire need for additional highway funding. So far that presentation has generated sympathy but no action.

With a large part of its responsibility being shut down, CDOT should be examining its organization from top to bottom to eliminate any unnecessary expense. Every unit, section and organization within CDOT should be scrutinized to see if it could be eliminated or reduced in size. Cost of administration should be studied carefully. This would best be done by an outside independent office.

With the disappearance of funds, priorities need to be even more carefully set. For instance, roundabouts generally only increase convenience to the driver, and are, therefore, not a dire need. The same can be said for the widening of the one-way pair through Grand Junction, which will cost millions. The money would be better spent on any of the many safety problems along state highways, where a small mistake can lead to tragedy.

DICK PROSENCE
Meeker

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 12:17 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.