How Many Roads Can We Fix With $5.4 Billion?

Every legislative session begins with hopes and dreams. Lawmakers propose hundreds and hundreds of bills, and over the course of a few months their dreams are mostly dashed. But with the Colorado State Assembly set to adjourn some time this week, the Democrats in control already have one big win under their belts: a long-awaited, much-needed $5.4 billion bill to address our state’s deteriorating transportation infrastructure. Denver Post reporter Jon Murray has been covering the bill, and he joins producer Paul Karolyi to explain how we let our roads get into this sorry state, why there are so many weird conflicting ideas in this bill, and what it’s going to mean for the average Coloradan.

For more on how Colorado funds its transportation needs, here’s a helpful explainer from the Colorado Department of Transportation. 

And if you haven’t heard The Taxman, Colorado Public Radio’s brilliant TABOR retrospective, check it out. We recommend listening to the podcast version, but there’s a text edition too, so you do you. 

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