STUDIES
Research on Colorado's roads
TRIP Report: “Keeping Colorado Mobile: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe, Smooth and Efficient Mobility,” Jan. 2025
Roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested or lack some desirable safety features cost Colorado motorists a total of $11.4 billion statewide annually – as much as $3,060 per driver in some areas – due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays. A lack of adequate investment in transportation and increasing inflation in construction costs could hamper Colorado’s ability to make needed improvements to its transportation network.
Highway Detours: The Ongoing Shift of Transportation Dollars, Common Sense Institute, March 2025.
Transportation fees are not going to roads. Since 2017, the state has created or increased a number of transportation related fees. The statutes authorizing them have directed the bulk of the dollars collected toward environmental mitigation, mass transit, and demand management efforts rather than roads, further exacerbating the state’s infrastructure problems.
CDOT resources do not meet demand. Over the long term, the resources available simply are insufficient to operate, maintain, and expand the state’s highway system to maintain appropriate service levels.
General Fund Transfers are inconsistent and often not directed to roadway improvements. Supplementing the constitutionally dedicated transportation funds with General Fund dollars, while helpful, is not a panacea. Recently the legislature has transferred significant sums of money for transportation. These transfers have made a difference but are tapering off and may disappear completely as budgetary conditions tighten.
Colorado Ranks 43rd in the Nation in Highway Performance and Cost-Effectiveness, Reason Foundation Annual Highway Report, March 2025
Colorado’s highway system ranks 43rd out of the 50 states overall this year. It was 36th in the nation five years ago.
Colorado’s highways rank 45th in urban Interstate pavement condition, 47th in rural Interstate pavement condition, 35th in urban arterial pavement condition, 37th in rural arterial pavement condition, 19th in structurally deficient bridges, 40th in urban fatality rate, and 32nd in rural fatality rate.
Colorado ranks 36th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion, and its drivers spend 36 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion.
Compared to neighboring and nearby states, Colorado’s highway performance is worse than Utah’s (8th), Wyoming’s (12th), Kansas’ (22nd), Arizona’s (29th), Nebraska’s (30th), and New Mexico’s (38th).
2025 Colorado Infrastructure Report Card, American Society of Civil Engineers, March 2025
Roads: D+
Colorado’s population grew to nearly six million residents in 2024, a 39% increase since 2000. Similarly, Colorado’s annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased by 31% from 2000 to 2019, and traffic congestion has generally followed the same increasing trend.
Due to inadequate state and local funding, 24% of locally and state-maintained roads and highways in Colorado are in poor condition.
CDOT estimates a shortfall of $350 million per year in funding needed to maintain and enhance the system. Of this, $284 million is needed specifically for pavement and system maintenance.
The ability of revenue from Colorado’s motor fuel tax – a critical source of state transportation funding – to keep pace with the state’s future transportation needs is expected to decline due to vehicles’ improved fuel efficiency, the increasing use of electric vehicles, and inflation in highway construction costs. Increasing inflation has further limited Colorado’s ability to complete needed projects and improvements, as available funding now covers significantly less work. The FHWA National Highway Construction Cost Index, which measures labor and materials costs, increased by 45% from early 2022 through the second quarter of 2024.
Securing reliable, diverse, and sustained funding outside of gas taxes will be necessary to meet future needs, maintenance costs, and increased demand.
