DENVER, Colo. — Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet applauded the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)’s plan to use $134 million in federal funding from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) relief package passed by Congress and signed into law in December for transportation priorities. The plan, which was approved by the Colorado Transportation Commission, advances projects that focus on the state’s most pressing transportation priorities.

“I commend CDOT’s swift use of federal funding for key transportation projects in Colorado,” said Bennet. “As we continue to navigate the current economic crisis, it’s critical for states to quickly invest federal funding into our communities while creating jobs. I’ll continue working to make sure our state has the federal funding and resources it needs to support Coloradans and continue to fight the current public health and economic crisis.”

“We are wasting no time putting federal dollars from the stimulus package to work for Coloradans to create jobs and reduce traffic.  Our state’s transportation commission approved a list of shovel-ready transportation projects across the state that are part of our 10-year transportation plan and which will create jobs and other economic benefits across the state including smoother, safer surfaces on major roads like I-76 and US-50, improved connections between Fort Collins and Denver, and better road design in downtown Grand Junction,” said Governor Jared Polis. “We are also allocating a portion of these dollars to local governments and will work with them to ensure that these too are spent quickly in a manner that immediately benefits residents. Washington must continue to build on this down payment as Colorado builds back stronger than before the pandemic.”

“We appreciate the rapid collaboration of our CDOT team, our local partners, and the Transportation Commission over the holidays that allowed us to ring in the new year by putting these new federal stimulus dollars to work,” said Karen Stuart, Transportation Commission Chair. “Because of our ten-year transportation plan, CDOT has a great ready-to-go list of projects across the state that allows us to commit new dollars quickly and transparently.”

“The projects we are advancing make investments across the state that reflect the diversity of our state and CDOT’s ten-year plan,” said Shoshana Lew, CDOT Executive Director. “They range from fixing a notoriously bumpy stretch of US 50 from Grand Junction to Delta, to safety improvements along the Eastern Plains, to an innovative transit hub in Berthoud that will help increase mobility options proximate to the I-25 corridor, to repairing broken bridges and sound walls in the Denver area, to accelerating a top priority intersection project for the Pikes Peak region in collaboration with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments.”

As part of the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that was passed by Congress and signed into law late last month, $10 billion in surface transportation funding will be available to states. Another $2 billion for airports and airport concessionaires and $14 billion for mass transit was also included; those funds will be allocated to state and local recipients shortly. Colorado should see just over $134 million in funds available through the formula designated in the relief bill. Additionally, CDOT is receiving $6 million for fixing deteriorating bridges though the federal appropriations package.