Fixing Rural Roads
Over the course of CDOT’s outreach effort we heard from rural communities across Colorado about the need to improve the condition of rural roads, and about the importance of freight routes to take products from farm to market.
We also heard frustration that, because their roads carry less volume than urban areas, CDOT’s pavement models rarely direct scarce resources toward lasting rural road repairs. Recent data indicates that those frustrations are valid.
In August 2019, a report by the Reason Foundation showed that Colorado has slipped to 47th in the nation when it comes to the condition of our rural pavement.
The first four years of this plan allocates 25% of all dollars (over $300 million) to rural pavement condition — the largest single investment in CDOT’s recent history.
CDOT proposes maintaining this focus throughout the decade, with a total of $1.3 billion going toward rural roads between 2020 and 2030. This would repair 1,300 miles of rural pavement across the state. Many of these roads haven’t been repaved since the 1970s.
Years 1-4 Highlights
$337 million, the largest investment in Colorado’s rural road network in recent history, will result in 41 rural roads projects.
These investments will improve more than 500 miles of Colorado’s rural roads, some of which have not been comprehensively treated since the 1970s.
Years 5-10 Highlights
$646 million (20%) of the unfunded project list would be dedicated to improving crumbling rural roads.
This includes a range of projects from repaving to full reconstruction. Investments would touch every corner
of the state.
