CDOT Region 3 outlines projects, shortfalls and a constrained 10‑year plan for Lake County

Colorado Department of Transportation Region 3 officials briefed the Lake County Board of County Commissioners on June 23 about the agency’s regional responsibilities, project pipeline and funding limits. Jason Smith, Region 3 regional transportation director, told the board the region covers 15 counties and “we have over 5,000 lane miles of highways” to maintain, plus 13 mountain passes, seven tunnels and roughly 15,000 culverts.

Mark Rogers, the regional planning manager, placed that work in the state funding context: “So $1,600,000,000 budget,” he said, and noted the department’s program is financed by a combination of federal funds, motor fuel taxes and fee revenues. Rogers said Region 3’s share of the 10‑year plan is about $33 million per year, but county officials should expect constrained resources and changes to the pavement‑allocation formula in FY29 that will reduce pavement dollars for the region. “When you look at the distribution … CDOT gets about 60% of those funds, and then the cities and the counties divide the remaining, at 20% apiece,” Rogers said.

CDOT staff emphasized aging assets and limited replacement rates. Smith and other presenters described a long replacement cycle for culverts and traffic infrastructure: “With 15,000 of those culverts out there … we’re in about a 500 year replacement cycle right now,” Smith said, and warned that funding and geographic challenges in the high country shorten pavement life. Commissioners asked for detail on specific local projects and were pointed to a list of 45 proposed projects in the new 10‑year plan and to ongoing Highway 24 work near Leadville.

Staff also flagged workforce issues. Smith said Region 3 employs about 600 positions across the region and currently has a roughly 10% vacancy rate after post‑COVID recovery, with about 40% of staff having under two years’ experience. CDOT representatives urged ongoing local advocacy for funding, noting that states with larger state contributions have more capacity for pavement and asset preservation.

The commissioners and CDOT agreed to keep communications open; staff provided contact names for follow‑up on specific projects and said they would work with county staff to identify short‑term and long‑range opportunities for Leadville‑area improvements.