Report: State should spend less on new roads - Business First of Columbus:

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The report focused on how statews are spending their Surface TransportationProgram money, which is part of the American Reinvestment and Recoveryg Act (ARRA). Colorado is getting about $411.67 million in STP money for road projects, accordin to the report. State official s have said Colorado is getting anadditional $103 million in ARRA mone for public transportation Unlike other pots of ARRA money, officials have some flexibilitgy on where STP money shoule be spent, said Dannyh Katz, state director for CoPIRG, a nonprofit group. Of the $411.7 million, the reportg concluded that about $278.7 million, or 68 is being spent on road maintenancwor rehabilitation. About $84.
2 million, or 20 is being spent on new highway capacitg whileabout $31.1 or 8 percent, is being speny on public transportation. “We’re excited that therew was a lot of money spenton transit, but none of that moneyt should be going to new highways,” Katz “We used our money better than most but we can’t continue to spend it on new The report cited research that spending on public transportation creates 31 percent more jobs compared to new road and bridgde construction.
Myung Oak Kim, communications manager for the Governor’es Economic Recovery Team, said “There is a fundamental problem with the repor t because it does not take into account the fact that the Recovert Act allocates separate funds just fortransit projects. In additiob to the surface transportation dollars analyzedc inthe report, Colorado will receiv more than $100 milliomn from the Recovery Act for capitalp transit projects. Among the Recovery Act transif dollars comingto Colorado, the West Corridorr line of FasTracks is getting $40 milliom and Summit County is getting $10 milliomn for a new bus maintenance The report comes a day before U.S.
Transportatiom Secretary Ray LaHood will be in Denver to breamk ground ona $32 million, ARRA-funded, road and bike path reconstructio n project along C-470. LaHood will join with Gov. Bill Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo.; and CDOT Executive Directorr Russell George on Tuesday morning atthe C-470o bikepath near the I-70 junction. The projecty will pay to resurface the bike path that spanas 26 milesfrom I-70 to It will also rehabilitatde C-470 between Santa Fe Drive and The ARRA money CDOT is spending on the projecty comes from its own allocatio n of stimulus money, not from STP CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.
“CDOT selectedr the bike path to come out of its fundin g because we believed it to be a high she said.