Are toll roads a failure in Colorado? (Idaho Springs, Empire: home, tax)

[Hschlick84]

So in this article, only 9,500 drivers used the I-70 toll road eastbound from Empire to Idaho Springs when it opened on December 19th. Colorado Department of Transportation confirms that it's reduced traffic and drivers are able to travel at 65mph. However, some people say toll roads are only for the rich people and not for everybody. There are people who are frustrated and would rather see toll roads removed from Colorado. What are your thoughts?

Have the I-70 toll lanes been successful?

[jwiley]

Up to $40 to get from Empire down is crazy money. The whole idea that the state is building these roads with our money, then turning around and using a foreign company to run them and overcharging as much as they do is a total failure for the population, but it is one way for the government to steal more money out of our pocket.

[sbelvedere]

But don't you like TABOR? It's basically made government services pay-as-you-go from now on. Toll roads fit right into this. Given that even the underused E-470 has not needed a bailout, I would say that none of the toll roads in CO have "failed."

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by sbelvedere

But don't you like TABOR? It's basically made government services pay-as-you-go from now on. Toll roads fit right into this. Given that even the underused E-470 has not needed a bailout, I would say that none of the toll roads in CO have "failed."

Oh yes, blame it all on tabor, that is the problem. Our state is not failing to collect enough revenue, they are choosing to spend it elsewhere, such as nice big million dollar signs entering different cities. They have the money to subsidize light rail and plenty of other services, and even build roads that they decide to kills us on tolls for. The toll roads are being put in place to help nickel and dime us all, just like all the little fees for every service you need from the government, but those fees do not count against tabor so critics of tabor love to ignore it.

[TCHP]

I use C470 and don't mind paying the $10-20 for the convenience it provides. Would I pay $40 to travel east on I70 on a Sunday afternoon, hmmm. Probably not, but maybe. People use them, they pay the tolls, I don't know that they would be called failures for meeting their objective.

Do they discriminate against the poor...well, everything does in that context that you pay a for premium X, whatever X may be. Does Armani discriminate against poor people by making their clothes too expensive? Sure, but poor can shop somewhere else, they are nto going naked because of what Armani charges. Toll roads do not prevent poor people from going to the same places rich people go, it may just impact they time it takes for them to get there if they choose to use public roads.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by TCHP

I use C470 and don't mind paying the $10-20

Uh, C-470 is free.
E-470 cost money.

[TCHP]

Sorry, thanks for pointing that out. If I don't mind paying to use E-470, I certainly don't mind the C-470 fees.

[Sunderpig2]

For occasional use (going to and from the airport), they're great. They are probably overpriced, but I've experienced no problems using them, and being free of traffic is wonderful.

"Failure" seems like a strong and harsh word. I see no failure anywhere with them.

[SkyDog77]

I drove home from the mountains on Saturday. The toll was $4 and traffic was light.

The third lane has definitely taken some strain off the commute home. It actually puts CDOT in an interesting position because they have been saying that more lanes on I-70 wouldn't really help and the data is showing otherwise.

I would prefer that we paid for this stuff out of general tax dollars, but TABOR is a major issue when it comes to funding projects like this so the state's hand has been forced to adopt a use fee based system. Libertarians should love it.

[Hschlick84]

CDOT should just sabotage the tolls all together and just announce 'no more tolls in Colorado' all roads are accessible for free. Not going to happen, but would be great to dream about it.