Passage of the $1 Trillion Infrastructure Package was a tremendous feat of compromise, appreciation of the value of infrastructure investment and economic stimulus. Leaders from the Northern Colorado region and advocates for funding and construction of the North Interstate 25 corridor shared their praise of the plan and desire for a portion of the Colorado dollars to complete the North I-25 Express Lanes project.
“There is no better investment in stimulating an economy than investing in transportation infrastructure. We congratulate the Senate on their historic achievement today in finding a bi-partisan compromise and thank our Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet on their role to bring the package to fruition,” said Scott James, Weld County Commissioner, Chair of the North I-25 Coalition, the joint Chair of the Upper Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization and member of the State Transportation Advisory Council.
North I-25 is the back bone and life blood of the Northern Colorado region. It is the intrastate connect between the north, south, east and west of Colorado. And, critically, it is the interstate connect to the rest of the country. We strongly urge our Senators, the Colorado Transportation Commission and the Colorado Department of Transportation to direct a portion of the Colorado allocation of these federal funds to fully fund and complete the critical expansion of the federally overseen interstate roadway, the North I-25 Express Lanes Project.
“Interstate 25 is among the very few key nationally and state strategic transportation corridors in Colorado. Full completion of the express lanes in the North I-25 corridor assures the health and safety of the thousands of Colorado and interstate citizens and freight movers that use the corridor every day while addressing the important air quality concerns caused by unnecessary congestion along the miles of two-lane interstate,” said Ann Hutchison, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce President & CEO and Convener of the Fix North I-25 Business Alliance:
The Fix North I-25 Business Alliance stands firmly with the North I-25 Coalition in urging the Colorado Transportation Commission and CDOT to fully fund* “North I-25 Gap” from the available federal transportation/infrastructure funds.”
*$660+ million is necessary to complete the $1.6 billion North I-25 Express Lanes project.
Northern Colorado is United
Northern Colorado is united in its efforts to assure full funding of North I-25.
Together, the North I-25 Coalition and Fix North I-25 Business Alliance, represent the local governments and the business community of the Northern Colorado region.
The North I-25 Coalition, founded in September 2013, encompasses local government Mayors, Commissioners and Councilors representing entities – counties, cities and towns – along the I-25 corridor. Their focused and cooperative efforts by members of the Coalition, chaired by Weld County Commissioner Scott James, has produced millions in local matching funds to position the North I-25 Corridor to receive federal funding.
The region’s business community founded the Fix North I-25 Business Alliance in early 2014. The Alliance is a project of the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, the joint advocacy arm of the Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley Chambers of Commerce with Upstate Colorado and One NoCo Economic Development. It has invested significant financial resources in the unified North I-25 effort and the statewide funding conversation to advocate for more transportation funding for Colorado and North I-25.