Repeal of ordinance frees road funds

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

On Nov. 7, Fort Collins voters repealed a citizen-initiated ordinance related to building a truck route outside the city.

The ordinance, passed in 1999, had effectively stalemated discussion about a bypass because of problematic language. The ordinance mandated that a truck route be outside the Fort Collins growth management area, and such a limitation contradicts federal rules about how to choose routes.

As a result of this year's vote, Fort Collins now has about $1.8 million in unused funds that can be spent on transportation needs. According to Mark Jackson of the city's transportation department, the city council can choose to use the money for further analysis of the truck route issue, or they can use the funds for other transportation projects in the northeast quadrant of the city.

Examples of high-priority road projects in that quadrant, Jackson said, include Lemay Avenue from Lincoln Avenue north or improvements on North College Avenue. As of press time, neither the transportation department nor the city council had discussed how to use the freed-up funds.

A few years ago, Larimer County commissioners told Fort Collins that they could not discuss a truck route as long as the problematic ordinance was in effect. Now, Jackson said, commissioners and city council will have to decide if they want to pursue a truck bypass as a regional priority. "We've removed a sizeable obstacle" to that discussion, Jackson noted.