Nine Colorado public highways being sold to foreign toll road firms over the next 12 months

[Travlyr]

US 36 Privatization 50-Year Contract to be Signed

I-70 in downtown Denver/mountains, C-470 and I-25 from Denver to Ft. Collins are all being privatized and one or more toll lanes added.

[acptulsa]

Because, you know, libertarians are crazy to think governments aren't needed to build and maintain highways.

They're just needed to sell them to foreigners, that's all.

[Carson]

Sold for enough of a profit that the citizens have agreed to it and will be satisfied with their cut or enough to buy off a politician.

[Zippyjuan]

Isn't 470 already a toll road (I have used it visiting family in the Fort Collins area- they removed booths and unless you have a quick pass they take pictures of your license plate and bill you)? If I heard correctly, US 36 is being widened and express lanes added and these express lanes will be toll while the existing lanes will still be free. http://kdvr.com/2014/02/11/debate-on...olls-heats-up/

Plenary Roads Denver is the private company that CDOT contracted to complete the second phase of a $425 million plan to renovate, expand and maintain U.S. 36. The company, which has offices in Australia, Singapore, Canada and the U.S., is currently in the process of building toll lanes running in both directions on the highway.

Under the terms of the current deal, which was originally scheduled to be finalized in the next two weeks, Plenary would be responsible for maintaining U.S. 36 until 2063.

That’s not what has residents and some legislators concerned. What does is that Plenary would also receive all revenues from the toll lanes for the next 50 years under the terms of the current deal.

[eduardo89]

Oh no! The evil foreigners might take the roads overseas!

[Henry Rogue]

Isn't 470 already a toll road (I have used it visiting family in the Fort Collins area- they removed booths and unless you have a quick pass they take pictures of your license plate and bill you)? If I heard correctly, US 36 is being widened and express lanes added and these express lanes will be toll while the existing lanes will still be free. http://kdvr.com/2014/02/11/debate-on...olls-heats-up/

Anyone lose property to eminent domain?

[Carson]

I sort of remember Milton Friedman had a good argument for privatizing things like roads. I think his argument was that they could be run more efficiently.

Now all I can think is another one of the concepts he taught is being taken out of contexts and abused. All his concepts seem to have been to me.

Anyway the thing that sticks in my craw is I'm thinking these roads ran about a million dollars a mile back when a million dollars was a million dollars. That puts the value up around at least 30 million a mile now.

And isn't it odd that we are being squeezed off of all of our publicly held assets. We built it or set this stuff aside to ensure the public use now we are having to pay rent. What's that all about?

It all gets back to a central bank that DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING somehow suckering us into borrowing some of our own nothing and charging us interest.

Has the whole planet went full retard?



Pass the Super Dollar on.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV


Eminent Domain is going to be where it is at.

[ClydeCoulter]

Oh no! The evil foreigners might take the roads overseas!

Well, maybe just the money from the tolls.

[Czolgosz]

Ha ha. Awesome.

[eduardo89]

Well, maybe just the money from the tolls.

Oh no! A foreign company is going to employ American workers to maintain an American road and they have the guts to charge people to use it and aren't giving all the money to the state! How dare they!!!!

[Zippyjuan]

Actually this is a US group. They are getting financial backing from Goldman Sachs.

Plenary Roads Denver is a consortium of Plenary Group, Granite Construction, Ames Construction, HDR, Transfield Services and Goldman Sachs.

http://plenarygroup.com/news-and-med...proponent.html

[Danke]

Just don't pay the toll and tell the foreigners to $#@! off when they try to collect.

[ClydeCoulter]

Oh no! A foreign company is going to employ American workers to maintain an American road and they have the guts to charge people to use it and aren't giving all the money to the state! How dare they!!!!

I think 'mericans were already working on the roads, dude.

Ever travel between northern Indiana and Chicago? I hate unkempt toll roads no matter who owns them. Worse than our county back-roads for maintenance.

That's okay, just make 'em all toll roads, then you can throw change all day long...oh wait...buy 14 different passes....or hey, maybe use bitcoin cards...or just add another wifi device, "I'm here!"

Oh, and where's the money going from the sale of the roads, to the taxpayer (who paid for it) or the state?

[axiomata]

Bitcoin as a toll token. Not a bad idea. Could even incorporate anonymous P2P GPS to keep track of whose roads you've used.

[LibertyEagle]

This has already happened in Austin. Hate it.

[LibertyEagle]

Just don't pay the toll and tell the foreigners to $#@! off when they try to collect.

Well, here, they have the city collecting the tolls for them and also doing the enforcement if you do not pay.

Oh no! A foreign company is going to employ American workers to maintain an American road and they have the guts to charge people to use it and aren't giving all the money to the state! How dare they!!!!

Well, here, they dug up a lot of miles of existing road and built a toll road that is very difficult to avoid.

I used to be all for toll roads. Back when I was a child, they worked quite well. But, these toll roads that you use to just get around town are ultra-expensive and the old roads that we already paid for, well, they were torn to $#@!.

[idiom]

Bitcoin as a toll token. Not a bad idea. Could even incorporate anonymous P2P GPS to keep track of whose roads you've used.

Oh man.

The pain.

[oyarde]

Colorado should sell its gubmit to furriners .

[fr33]

Because, you know, libertarians are crazy to think governments aren't needed to build and maintain highways.

They're just needed to sell them to foreigners, that's all.

The problem is that an infrastructure that was paid for by taxpayers is being sold to private industry so the funds from the sale can pay for some other bottomless pit of social welfare. Still the roads will be subject to govt regulations and the drivers that use them will have to pay gas taxes for their fuel. It surely won't be an improvement or display any new innovation. They've been doing this $#@! with Texas highways for a while. They build a big highway using public funds then sell it to the highest bidder.

[oyarde]

The problem is that an infrastructure that was paid for by taxpayers is being sold to private industry so the funds from the sale can pay for some other bottomless pit of social welfare. Still the roads will be subject to govt regulations and the drivers that use them will have to pay gas taxes for their fuel. It surely won't be an improvement or display any new innovation. They've been doing this $#@! with Texas highways for a while. They build a big highway using public funds then sell it to the highest bidder.

Correct , it belonged to the people ( who pd for it ) , now being sold.

[mrsat_98]

Colorado should sell its gubmit to furriners .

Correct , it belonged to the people ( who pd for it ) , now being sold.

Freaking Dope Heads out there.

[tangent4ronpaul]

The problem is that an infrastructure that was paid for by taxpayers is being sold to private industry so the funds from the sale can pay for some other bottomless pit of social welfare. Still the roads will be subject to govt regulations and the drivers that use them will have to pay gas taxes for their fuel. It surely won't be an improvement or display any new innovation. They've been doing this $#@! with Texas highways for a while. They build a big highway using public funds then sell it to the highest bidder.

Just like the sports stadium scam...

-t

[donnay]

Oh no! A foreign company is going to employ American workers to maintain an American road and they have the guts to charge people to use it and aren't giving all the money to the state! How dare they!!!!

Foreigners don't have the right to buy American roads that American's tax dollars paid for to build!

You're such a sycophant for the globalist who hell-bent in destroying America.

[jtap]

The problem is that an infrastructure that was paid for by taxpayers is being sold to private industry so the funds from the sale can pay for some other bottomless pit of social welfare. Still the roads will be subject to govt regulations and the drivers that use them will have to pay gas taxes for their fuel. It surely won't be an improvement or display any new innovation. They've been doing this $#@! with Texas highways for a while. They build a big highway using public funds then sell it to the highest bidder.

Exactly. No refund on the gas used to drive on those roads and the taxes paid on that gas to maintain them when previously owned and operated by the government. Total sham.

[asurfaholic]

Oh no! A foreign company is going to employ American workers to maintain an American road and they have the guts to charge people to use it and aren't giving all the money to the state! How dare they!!!!

My big concern is that the privately expanded lanes would be granted the same eminent domain powers that public roads have.

Our current state of affairs has me convinced that there will be state preference given to the corp in the event of a dispute with a private property owner.

[compromise]

MUH ROADS!

This is a great idea.

[Keith and stuff]

So CO legislators get a ton more money to spend, they get to claim they didn't increase taxes, they get to claim they are supporting libertarian loved user-fees... It's such a win for legislators in CO. I'm not sure if it is such a big win for the people though

Looks like hell for commuters. This is about the short trip from Boulder to Denver.

Round trip from Denver to Boulder will debut at $9 to $12 during peak rush hour when toll lane opens over the next year with the ability to rise to $28 per rush hour round trip.

[eduardo89]

Foreigners don't have the right to buy American roads that American's tax dollars paid for to build!

Except they didn't buy the road, they won the contract to maintain the road and instead of receiving taxpayer subsidies to maintain it, they'll maintain it using toll revenue.

You're such a sycophant for the globalist who hell-bent in destroying America.

lol

[oyarde]

So CO legislators get a ton more money to spend, they get to claim they didn't increase taxes, they get to claim they are supporting libertarian loved user-fees... It's such a win for legislators in CO. I'm not sure if it is such a big win for the people though

Looks like hell for commuters. This is about the short trip from Boulder to Denver.

At that rate , you would have to have a job over median income to afford that and make it even worthwile to travel to and from work , figure around $19 an hour gets you ( with no health ins , no retirement contribution ) around $100 a day after taxes , so you would have to be making more than that to ante up $10 or $30 ea day in addition.

[Brian4Liberty]

Actually this is a US group. They are getting financial backing from Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs owning all the roads? That sounds like a great idea. And when the roads fall apart, the government can bail them out to rebuild them!

Colorado should sell its gubmit to furriners .

Apparently they can't find any Americans with the expertise. It's a job Americans can't do.

The problem is that an infrastructure that was paid for by taxpayers is being sold to private industry so the funds from the sale can pay for some other bottomless pit of social welfare. Still the roads will be subject to govt regulations and the drivers that use them will have to pay gas taxes for their fuel. It surely won't be an improvement or display any new innovation. They've been doing this $#@! with Texas highways for a while. They build a big highway using public funds then sell it to the highest bidder.

Exactly. And they'll be adding the mileage tax too.