Colorado’s new road chief is not letting the state’s highway woes dull his sly sense of humor.
Shailen Bhatt recently quipped that the conversion of U.S. 36 from Boulder to Denver into a partial toll road should appeal to just about everybody’s political persuasion.
“Really, here in Colorado, it’s going to be a libertarian’s dream,” said Bhatt, who left Delaware to become executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation in January. “You can use free lanes, while on the East Coast you have to pay a toll to get where you want to go.
“Lots of states won’t give you that option. In Colorado, you have the option of not supporting the company by not paying their tolls. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
Bhatt, a 39-year-old father of one with another child on the way, tends to be open to nearly any idea to unclog local highways and cater to the environment.
While at the Federal Highway Administration, he helped administer stimulus funds, particularly for livability initiatives. Bhatt also represented the United States at the United Nations’ Climate Change Summit in Cancun.
“Shailen hit the ground running to quickly assess the challenges and the great potential we have at CDOT,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper, who appointed Bhatt. “When he says that he wants CDOT to be the best DOT in the country, I believe that he can get us there.”
Bhatt took over the oversight of CDOT — which maintains, repairs and plows over 23,000 total lane miles of highway — and inherits several ambitious road projects.
At the top is the proposed $1.2 billion widening of Interstate 70 east from Interstate 25 to Interstate 225, including new toll lanes and the removal of a 50-year-old viaduct near Swansea Elementary.
The I-70 makeover is considered Colorado’s largest road project ever. Last week, nearly 200 contractors attended a CDOT-sponsored forum to gauge interest in forming a public-private partnership to build, maintain and collect tolls on part of the interstate.
Bhatt represents a new opening for those opposed to the east I-70 project, which has been criticized as being too expensive and loaded with environmental hazards for northeast Denver neighborhoods.
“I hope he brings in a new set of eyes that won’t carry the same baggage held by past directors of CDOT,” said Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher. “He brings a glimmer of hope that we can stop this waste of money and disruption of neighborhoods.”
Bhatt said Colorado is quickly gaining a reputation nationally for innovative approaches to road building. That’s mostly because the state, like many others, doesn’t have the funding to take on large-scale projects on its own.
“It’s really the 21st-century model of how states have to do things,” said Bhatt. “Using a mix of methods and relying on technology will be at the forefront.”
Those new strategies are needed to relieve the state’s “creaking” interstates and arterial roadways that are sagging due to overuse, said Bhatt.
“Colorado is choking on its own growth,” he said.
During a tour of the state soon after he took over, Bhatt became an eyewitness to the state’s congestion.
“There we were at 10:13 a.m. on a Tuesday, hitting a traffic jam on I-25 on our way to Greeley,” said Bhatt. “Wow. It is unbelievable.”
While at the Federal Highway Administration, Bhatt helped develop “Every Day Counts” — an initiative aimed at accelerating project delivery.
He also served as executive director with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and director of the Bowling Green-Warren County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Bhatt took over the Delaware Department of Transportation in 2011 after the previous secretary resigned over questionable land deals with developers.
Bhatt strengthened the department fiscally and delivered $2 billion in infrastructure investments, managed the disaster recovery of two hurricanes and cut the agency debt by nearly 40 percent, say Delaware officials.
“Shailen has done an excellent job enhancing the state’s transportation network while earning the respect of his colleagues and the trust of our citizens,” Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said in January.
Bhatt’s willingness to work with private enterprise to get large projects in on time will be an asset in Colorado, said Tony Milo, executive director of the Colorado Contractors Association.
“He’s got the experiences we are looking for to help Colorado get into the future of transportation planning,” Milo said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
