CDOT staff asked the Transportation Commission on Friday to consider a one-time $80,000,000 supplemental allocation aimed at low drivability rural roads that the department's models would not otherwise prioritize.

The department said projects selected for the supplemental funds were intentionally those that do not typically meet benefit-cost thresholds in the annual service-treatment list but impose heavy maintenance burdens on regional crews. Bob Hayes, deputy chief engineer, said the proposed distribution would cover about 115.8 centerline miles (roughly 230 lane miles), using cost-effective treatments selected in consultation with region pavement engineers.

Regional directors offered examples of proposals they would program with the supplement: Region 1 identified county and state highway ramps and local routes (SH 46 into Golden Gate Canyon State Park; SH 79 in Bennett; SH 8 in Lakewood); Region 2 proposed a large overlay on Colorado Highway 12 near Trinidad (roughly 32'39 miles, est. $17M); Region 3 proposed work on SH 25 north of Walden and SH 139 south of Rangely; Region 4 proposed resurfacing about 35 centerline miles of Colorado 94 east of Colorado Springs; Region 5 proposed continuing resurfacing on Colorado 114 (about 15 centerline miles).

Staff said the supplemental would be funded primarily from federal redistribution funds and that the FY26 budget amendment would reduce the program reserve to approximately $47,100,000 (above CDOT's informal reserve target of ~$40M), with the remaining balance largely federal. Commissioners asked whether the selection criteria and modeling would produce the performance improvements staff forecasted; staff said the projects were chosen to produce immediate drivability-life gains and to remove recurrent maintenance demands on crews.

No formal commission approval was recorded at the workshop; staff said the supplemental will appear on the commission's consent or action agenda at a subsequent meeting and that further detail will be provided in committee packets.