Colorado Transportation Commission approves CO 119 funding shift and other June 18 actions

The Colorado Transportation Commission on June 18 approved a budget supplement transferring $7 million from its program reserve to CDOT Region 4 for the final CO 119 Hover Street construction package, along with several other fiscal and administrative actions in the same meeting packet.

The locally clearest action was the CO 119 transfer. The budget supplement says Region 4 requested the reserve money so it could award the final construction package for the CO 119 Safety, Mobility and Bikeway Project at the Hover Street intersection. The supplement also says the request was consistent with the fiscal 2026-29 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

CDOT says the broader CO 119 corridor project between Boulder and Longmont has a $165 million program cost and is scheduled to run from fall 2024 to spring 2027. Boulder County says construction is expected to finish in January 2027.

The same June 18 packet also included statewide contract and finance items. In one resolution, the commission authorized CDOT to execute attached intergovernmental contracts, amendments and option letters above the agency's $750,000 approval threshold. The packet summary listed projects involving Arvada, El Paso County, Summit County, Estes Park, Fort Collins and Larimer County, Hudson, Mead, Weld County and Telluride.

The commission also adopted the ninth supplement to CDOT's fiscal 2025-26 budget. Separately, another resolution set a 3.5% State Infrastructure Bank interest rate for loans applied for in the second half of fiscal 2026-27 and kept the bank's existing origination-fee schedule.

The commission also approved a temporary $1.8 million transfer from the bank's highway account to its aviation account. The resolution says payments received on outstanding aviation-account loans must be returned to the highway account until the full amount is repaid.

In Johnstown, the commission approved CDOT's side of a proposed road transfer, but the road will not change hands unless the town accepts it. The commission's resolution says the 3.9-mile I-25 East Frontage Road segment from about mile marker 253.2 to 257.1 is no longer needed for state highway purposes and received Federal Highway Administration approval for relinquishment on May 19.

Under that action, Johnstown's governing body has 90 days after official notice to adopt a resolution accepting the relinquishment and assuming ownership in its current "as is" condition. If the town accepts, CDOT would execute a quitclaim deed with a reversion provision if the road is not kept in public ownership.

Near Castle Pines, Resolution 11 says the commission approved a system-level study for interchange improvements at I-25 and Happy Canyon Road, but left several later approvals unresolved. The resolution says those steps include completion and approval of the environmental decision document, interchange access approval, design approval, transportation demand management and permitting documents, and the chief engineer's approval of an intergovernmental agreement covering financing, construction, maintenance and operations.

The same resolution says a separate chief engineer-approved agreement is also required for transportation demand management measures tied to CDOT's 1601 policy and a 3% average-daily-traffic reduction requirement. It also says the commission could revisit the study if the environmental process identifies a different preferred alternative.

On funding, the commission packet puts the interchange cost at $42 million in 2026 dollars and says the City of Castle Pines, Douglas County, CDOT's Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise and nearby developers are covering the full reconstruction cost. The city says that breaks down to $14.5 million from the city and surrounding developments, $16.5 million from Douglas County and $11 million from CDOT for bridge replacement.

The city says construction is anticipated to start in July 2026 and finish in mid-2028, though that timeline still depends on the additional approvals the commission identified in its June 18 vote.