Colorado Transportation Commission to Host Public Hearing on Draft Statewide Transportation Improvement Program

April 15, 2011 - STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION PLAN ­­– On Wednesday, April 20th, the Colorado Transportation Commission will conduct a public hearing to present information and receive comments on the proposed Fiscal Year 2012- Fiscal Year 2017 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

The meeting will be held at Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) headquarters located at 4201 E. Arkansas Avenue in Denver and will begin at 10 a.m.

“The STIP is one component of our short-term and long-term planning process that identifies the transportation projects CDOT intends to fund over a six-year period,” said Transportation Commission Chair Les Gruen.  “The plan not only identifies specific projects, but it also outlines the year(s) that each project will be funded based on available revenue.”

The planning and budgeting process begins with the development of long-range transportation plans. Once the long-range plans are developed, the STIP is developed in cooperation with local government entities across the state, including 15 Transportation Planning Regions (TPRs) and five Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs).

STIP development is typically done concurrently with, or subsequently to, the development of the long-range Statewide Transportation Plan. This is because all projects in the STIP must be aligned with the visions, goals and strategies of the corridors in the Statewide Plan. All projects in the STIP have a link to the long-range plan and note the strategies being fulfilled by the project.  After a project has been included in the STIP, it may be budgeted within the appropriate fiscal year.

If you would like to speak at the Public Hearing on April 20th, please RSVP by Monday, April 18.  If you can’t attend the meeting, you can view the draft STIP at http://www.coloradodot.info/business/budget and submit comments by April 29th, 2011.  Questions, comments and RSVP information should be submitted to Jamie Collins:

Colorado Department of Transportation
Office of Financial Management and Budget
Attn:  Jamie Collins
4201 E. Arkansas Avenue, Room 235
Denver, CO 80222

Following the Public Hearing and the comment period, the public comments are reviewed and are used to finalize the STIP, which will be presented to the Transportation Commission in May 2011 for adoption.  Following the Commission’s approval, the document will be sent to the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration for final approval.  The finalized plan will become effective on July 1, 2011.