Second Regular Session Sixty-sixth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 08-0424.01 Jason Gelender HOUSE BILL 08-1012 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Vaad, SENATE SPONSORSHIP Spence, House Committees Senate Committees Transportation & Energy A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning a requirement that the transportation commission evaluate the state highway system, and, in connection therewith, requiring the commission to remove roads from the system if it determines that it is feasible and appropriate to do so. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted.) Requires the transportation commission to evaluate the state highway system and remove roads from the system if it determines that it is feasible and appropriate to do so. Makes legislative findings and declarations. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: (a) The state highway system currently includes over nine thousand two hundred centerline miles of roads, and over one thousand one hundred fifty of the centerline miles are located within the jurisdiction of municipalities. (b) Colorado law specifies that construction and maintenance of the state highway system, including those portions of the system that are within the boundaries of municipalities, is an obligation of the department of transportation. (c) Because the department of transportation therefore must construct and maintain, as part of the state highway system, not only highways that connect different regions of the state, but also regional and local roads that are used for travel in only one area of the state, local and regional governments and transportation funding and planning entities are insulated from many of the costs of funding local and regional transportation needs. (d) The costs of construction and maintaining the state highway system are increasing faster than revenues from sources dedicated to transportation funding, and reducing the size of the state highway system is likely to encourage more cost-effective transportation funding by requiring local and regional funding of local and regional transportation needs and allowing the department of transportation to focus its limited resources on state highways and projects that provide benefits in multiple regions of the state. (2) The general assembly further finds and declares that it is necessary and appropriate to require the transportation commission to evaluate the state highway system, determine the extent to which reduction of the state highway system is feasible and appropriate, consider removing roads and portions of roads that do not fill statewide or multi-regional transportation needs from the system, and recommend to the general assembly any statutory changes regarding transportation planning or the allocation of transportation funding that should accompany such a reduction. SECTION 2. 43-2-101 (1) and (3), Colorado Revised Statutes, are amended, and the said 43-2-101 is further amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION, to read: 43-2-101. State highway system. (1) There shall be established in this state a system of roads known as "the state highway system". Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5) of this section, the state highway system shall consist of the federal-aid primary roads, the federal-aid secondary roads, and the interstate system, including extensions thereof within urban areas, plus an amount not to exceed five percent of the mileage of such systems which may be declared to be state highways by the transportation commission while not being any part of any federal system. (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the mileage of the state highway system to the total mileage constituting the system as of December 31, 1953, but federal-aid primary roads and federal-aid secondary roads may be added or deleted by the department of transportation according to need as determined by said department. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5) of this section, deletions from the federal-aid secondary system shall be mutually decided by the federal government, the state, and the affected county. (5) (a) During the 2008-09 state fiscal year, the transportation commission shall evaluate the entire state highway system for the purpose of determining whether it is feasible and appropriate to reduce the size of the system by removing roads or portions of roads from the system. In conducting the evaluation, the commission shall identify each state highway system road or portion of a road that meets only local or regional transportation demands or provides minimal statewide or multi-regional benefits and determine the feasibility and appropriateness of removing each identified road or portion of a road from the state highway system. The commission shall also specifically determine the feasibility and appropriateness of removing any road or portion of a road that is located within the jurisdiction of a municipality from the state highway system even if the road or portion of the road meets statewide or multi-regional transportation needs or provides substantial statewide or multi-regional benefits. The commission shall remove any road or portion of a road from the statewide transportation system that it believes can feasibly and appropriately be removed. (b) No later than October 1, 2009, the transportation commission shall report to the transportation legislation review committee created in section 43-2-145 regarding the results of its evaluation. The report shall identify any road or portion of a road removed from the state highway system by the commission and shall also include any proposed legislation regarding transportation planning or the allocation of transportation funding deemed necessary or appropriate by the commission. SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.