Lots of area residents turned out Monday afternoon at the Durango Library to see Colorado Department of Transportation's new preferred alternative route to connect the "Bridge to Nowhere" exchange at the bottom of Grandview Hill to Highway 550 south.
The route, referred to as RGM6, skirts the west edge of the mesa top, crossing a small part of the historic Webb Ranch. Ranch owners had resisted an original route that went through the middle of their property.
Visitors at the Monday open house could examine maps with the original and new preferred route, also several other routes that were analyzed over the past several years.
According to CDOT, the RGM6 route does not displace any homes or businesses, unlike some of the other routes. It also has the fewest impacts on affected properties and on wildlife, and requires the smallest amount of new right-of-way acquisition, at 66.9 acres.
CDOT is still completing National Environmental Policy Act documentation for the entire project, with a Record of Decision with the Federal Highway Administration scheduled to be finalized in spring 2015.
Finalizing a route doesn't mean the work will happen any time soon. It's anybody's guess when it will happen, CDOT representative Nancy Shanks said.
CDOT Region 5 Director Kerrie Neet added, "There's identified funding that hasn't been formally approved. It's less than 1 percent of the project."
The money could be used for right-of-way acquisition, but there's no money for construction, they said.
The cost estimate for four-lane design and construction of the RGM6 route is estimated at $91 million, or $75 million for a two-lane road including the cost of right-of-way for the full four lanes.
In late September, Neet and other CDOT representatives told the La Plata County Commissioners that current funding priorities are for "shovel-ready" projects and to preserve the condition of existing roads rather than saving up money for very expensive projects.
Colorado Transportation Commissioner Sidny Zink from Durango said then that CDOT had been anticipating an additional $200 million a year statewide for the next five years, but that could be cut in half if state revenue growth triggered a TABOR Amendment requirement for refunds of "excess revenue" to taxpayers.
As of November, that prospect was looking more likely. Associated Press reported that Gov. John Hickenlooper's proposed budget for the next fiscal year included almost $137 million set aside for taxpayer refunds in 2016.
