scott scharin @sscharin - Twitter Profile

scott scharin @sscharin

4 days ago

@MELGIBSONgo D.

0

1

0

11

sscharin retweeted

Sean Paige

@SeanPaige

5 days ago

After 8 years of @GovofCO Jared Polis, Colorado’s roads still really suck. They are a national embarrassment, as I experienced first-hand over the past few days as I drove a load of furniture from Minneapolis to Denver. Of the states I traveled through -- Minnesota Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado -- Colorado's roads were by far the worst, and it wasn't even close. It was like driving over washboards. The potholes were bad enough to shake your fillings loose. Drivers with back problems should avoid this state at all costs. Many third world countries boast better roads. But don't take my word for it. Reason Foundation ranks us 42nd–43rd overall for highway performance. Rural interstate pavement is near the bottom (often 45th–47th). ASCE just gave our roads a D+. Only ~34% of Colorado roads are in good condition vs. ~45% nationally. Drivers eat ~$1,900/year in extra costs from bad pavement and congestion. Long-haul truckers rank Colorado among the 10 worst states for roads. I-70 is regularly called out as one of the nation’s worst stretches. Where does the road funding go? And where does the time go? You had 8 years to do something about the roads, Jared. But you had other priorities. Highways remain a tiny slice of the general fund "pie" in Colorado. Recent budgets show general fund transfers to transportation often in the low hundreds of millions (or less) out of a multi-billion discretionary general fund dominated by Medicaid, K-12, and higher ed. Paying off teacher unions and university professors clearly matters more to you than maintaining safe, drivable, 21st Century roads. Much of the “transportation” money that does get raised through new "fees" (read: taxes) is steered toward transit, "Bustang," bike lanes, "multimodal projects," EV infrastructure, and emissions goals under your "Transportation Vision 2035" -- not basic road maintenance or pavement repair. When budgets get tight, highway funds get cut while other priorities are protected. CDOT’s own numbers show chronic underfunding for “fix-it-first” pavement work, even as overall transportation spending has grown. Eight years. Record revenue collections. Still among the worst roads in the country. We need a much larger share of the general fund going to roads -- not buses, bike lanes, or “intermodal” boondoggles. But there's nothing to indicate that anything will improve under Jared's heir apparent, Phil Weiser (@pweiser), from the looks of it. I don't recall Phil -- the man whose only claim to fame is that he sued Donald Trump one thousand times! -- running to be the governor who makes Colorado drivable again. So let's just assume that the decline and fall of Colorado will continue apace. #copolitics #coleg