Larimer County wins RAISE grant for Country Club Road design; construction funding remains to be secured

Mark Peterson, Larimer County engineer, told the Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 13 that Larimer County was awarded a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund design for a two-mile segment of Country Club Road (County Road 50E) between State Highway 1 and Turnberry.

Peterson said the award will fund the next steps on the corridor after an extensive public outreach process and corridor improvement plan. He gave staff estimates that total project costs for the corridor improvements are about $1,450,000 for the design phase and that the RAISE grant will provide approximately $1,160,000 in FY2025 funds. He said overall corridor implementation costs for the full set of improvements are north of $10 million and will require additional funding sources for construction.

Peterson said the Federal Highway Administration awards RAISE grants and that the county will now proceed through the federal grant-obligation process before obligating the money and moving to design. He estimated the design phase will take several months. Commissioners discussed potential implementation funding sources including future RAISE applications for construction phases, the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds for targeted safety elements and internal capital-project funding. Peterson said an HSIP award has funded a climbing lane on a different stretch of Bingham Hill Road and clarified there was not a separate RAISE award for Bingham Hill.

Commissioners acknowledged staff who worked on the application; Peterson credited Eric Tracy, Matt Johnson and Rusty McDaniel and said the county received technical assistance from the Department of Transportation in preparing a more competitive resubmission.

Peterson also noted a related consent-item request on the commissioners' agenda the following day: the town of Windsor is submitting a RAISE grant application for State Highway 392 and the county would again be asked to provide a letter of support; the county has provided two previous letters. The BOCC did not take a vote on the Country Club Road design award at the work session; the award is a federal grant to the county and the next steps are federal obligation and local design work.

County staff said they will pursue additional implementation funds and explore other grants and local capital options to cover construction costs.