FixNorthI25.com

The Fix North I-25 Business Alliance

FixNorthI25.com

What is North I-25?

FixNorthI25.com

The Problem• I-25 Fort Collins to Longmont lacks

adequate capacity resulting in frequent traffic delays

• North I-25 is now at Level of Service D• LOS E by 2025• LOS F by 2035 = 3 hours to Denver and DIA

• Population by 2040: +52% Larimer, +111% Weld

• Cost to widen Segments 5-8 (Hwy 14 to Hwy 66): $965M, but no funding has been committed

• Lack of an organized lobbying effort focused on un-widened section North I-25

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Hurts EverybodyNegative impacts of congestion to:• Employers: access to DIA, access to

labor because congestion shrinks labor-shed, access to Denver, lost productivity, lost business

• Workers: negative impact on quality of life, lost time, access to fewer job opportunities

• Local governments: adverse impact on economy means impact on tax base, political pressure on elected officials from unhappy residents

FixNorthI25.com

Business Needs to Get Involved

• Federal, state, local officials need to know how this is impacting business

• Keep pressure on, keep attention on solving this problem

• Not business’ problem to solve – government’s responsibility – HOWEVER, adversely impacts biz

FixNorthI25.com

Fix North I-25 Business Alliance• A “permanent” lobbying effort to work on this

issue• Fix North I-25 Business Alliance created through

Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance• NCLA is joint state / fed lobbying effort of Ft

Collins, Greeley and Loveland Chambers, UpState EDC, NCEDC

• Mission: • Help secure $965M (or however much is

necessary)…• …to widen I-25 to 3 lanes each way…• …between Highway 14 and Highway 66…• …by 2025

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What Alliance Has Been Doing• Clear focus - vision / guiding

principles / goals

• Studying highway funding options• ‘highway funding 101’ manual

• Lobbying

• Public relations

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Leadership Two Tiered

• Leadership Council • Tom Gendron, Woodward• Troy McWhinney, McWhinney Enterprises• Curt Richardson, Otter Products• George Hall, Hall-Irwin Construction• Total: 15

• Steering Committee• David May (Convener), Sarah MacQuiddy,

Mindy McCloughan, Barb Koelzer, Carl Maxey, Pete Gazlay, Bill Becker, Steve Tool, Tambor Williams, Ann Hutchison

FixNorthI25.com

Lobbying

• Direct Lobbying:• U.S. Congressman Bill Shuster, Chair of

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

• U.S. Senator Michael Bennet• U.S. Senator Cory Gardner advocated for

widening I-25 at Transportation Summit• U.S. Congressman Jared Polis declared

widening of I-25 the top transportation project in his district

• Governor John Hickenlooper• All Northern Colorado State Legislators

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Lobbying

• Direct lobbying:• Current CDOT Director Shailen

Bhatt • Former CDOT Director Don Hunt • Former CDOT Director Tom Norton • CDOT Region 4: Commissioner Kathy

Gilliland and Director Johnny Olson • North Front Range MPO,

presentation• HPTE Board meetings, testified• Gubernatorial Candidate Bob

Beauprez

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Lobbying

• Direct lobbying:• Monthly meetings of 13 county and

local governments that touch North I-25 – lobbying them to reach agreement to secure $90M of RAMP funding

• Business Leaders• Fort Collins Coloradoan Editorial

Board• 2014 Regional Issues Summit• 2015 Transportation Summit

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2014-15 Alliance Goals• Get regional consensus on how to use the

available $35M RAMP funding for North I-25• Support CDOT request for Presidential Challenge

Grant and Resilience and Recovery Grant• Protect SB-228 transportation funding during

2015 Legislative Session and get some of it dedicated to widening North I-25

• Work with counties and local governments to determine viability of federal funding through freight corridor or high priority corridor designations

• Encourage CDOT to make operational change to move trucks to right on southbound Berthoud Hill

• Process in place to build consensus / plan – local funding

FixNorthI25.com

Results To-Date

• $35M for Crossroads interchange (RAMP)

• Commitment to address Berthoud Hill – climbing lane, operational change

• Moved north I-25 to top tier of state transportation projects

• One vote away from TRANS II Bonds

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ResultsTo-Date

• TRANS II Bond Polling• Three out of four voters view transportation

funding as an issue that should be addressed as a top priority in the state’s current budget, and not addressed by creating new fees or raising taxes.

• Eight out of ten voters would like to see a portion of the state budget set aside for large, economically significant transportation projects.

• Nine out of ten voters view the state’s roads, bridges and infrastructure as in need of repair. Among the 34% of voters who opposed the TRANS II approach, 79% agree with this view.

FixNorthI25.com

ResultsTo-Date

• TRANS II Bond Polling • TRANS II funding approach is supported:

• 51% support first ask

• Grows to 61% support with more information

• Alternative approaches: • 52% support increasing the state gas tax,• 54% oppose increasing license and car

registration fees by $20.

• Support for increasing the state gas tax is likely to drop below 50% when voters are informed of the specifics of the tax amount.

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How You Can Help• FixNorthI25.com

• Sign-up for updates• Sign the online petition• Share the link with others

• Donate

• Ally

• Bumper Stickers

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Supplementary Slides

FixNorthI25.com

Future ConditionsPopulation Projections

County Today 2040%

increase

Larimer 316,031 481,193 52%

Weld 268,639 567,218 111%

Traffic Projections Based on T&R Study

Location 2012 2035

So. of Harmony Rd

72,000 110,600

So. of SH 402 71,400 112,900

So. of SH 66 73,200 114,400

So. of SH 7 102,600 157,800

Current corridor is functioning at LOS D. Projected to go to LOS E by 2025, and LOS F by 2035.