The Whole Tab · State of Colorado
Central 70 Project
Every layer of money behind the Central 70 Project, on one ruler. The same dollars can sit in more than one budget, so each one is counted once, at the layer that raised it.
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Every layer of money, each dollar once
Ledger strip
One row per layer of money on one dollar ruler. The top row is the total: each dollar counted once, and each numbered line under it adds into it. A dashed line drops from the dollars to every budget that carries them.
Separations
The same rows as printing plates, one layer of money on each. Plates inked in one column hold the same dollars. Every width and the ruler are the same as in the strip.
Counted once: ① State of Colorado $850M + ② State of Colorado $180M + ③ Federal government $50M + ④ City and County of Denver $37M = $1,117M, lines graded A or B only. Every budget line adds the same dollars again for each budget that carries them, and adds the financing too. It shows how a sum of budgets reads too high.
The plates are wider than this screen. Scroll them sideways.
Two lines are 30-year present values. The rest are dollars as paid. So the counted-once total mixes two bases.
CDOT gives the total project cost as $1.2B. The ruler marks $1,271M, the cost the federal loan program counted as eligible. Two publishers state the two figures, and they measure different things.
Two amounts are not published. They are drawn as an open notch with no width and left out of every total.
The State of Colorado raised most of it
Counted once, at the layer that raised it, the money in official records is $1,117M. The State of Colorado raised $1,030M. The federal government raised $50M. The City and County of Denver raised $37M.
Added budget by budget, it reads $2,131M
Counted once, the same money is $1,117M. $52.7M of it is carried: the same dollars in a second budget. The Denver Regional Council of Governments carries $50M. $961.1M is financing: cash fronted to build it and repaid from the funding, so it is never added.
No line records spending yet
The lines here are 11 committed and one budgeted. Spending shows here when an official record states it, and it is drawn in solid ink.
Two amounts are not published
Not published: CDOT existing I-70 corridor operations and maintenance spending; Express toll lane revenue. The counted-once total mixes 30-year present values with dollars as paid. No record states the long payments on one basis.
Point at or tab to any mark to trace the same dollars through every budget. Enter pins it.
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Every budget line
Every budget line adds the same dollars again for each budget that carries them, and adds the financing too. That is what a sum of budgets gives, and it reads too high: counted once, at the layer that raised each dollar, the Central 70 Project is $1,117M.
16 lines, each with its label, grade and source.
| Line | Whose books | Role | Amount | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration feesNet present value over 30 years, as the profile prints it. Paid as the capital part of the availability payments. | State of Colorado | Raised herecommitted | $850,000,00030-year present value | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, Funding Sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| General Fund transfers to CDOTLaw: Senate Bill 09-228 (2009). | State of Colorado | Raised herecommitted | $180,000,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, Funding Sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality fundsThe profile prints this once, under the regional council that carried it. The federal government raised it, so it counts here, once. | Federal government | Raised herecommitted | $50,000,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, Funding Sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| The same federal funds, passed through the regional councilSame dollars as: Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds. | Denver Regional Council of Governments | Carriedcommitted | $50,000,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, Funding Sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Denver share of operations, maintenance and renewalNet present value over 30 years, as the profile prints it. | City and County of Denver | Raised herecommitted | $37,000,00030-year present value | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, Funding Sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Denver 2026 appropriation, I-70 Availability PaymentSame dollars as: Denver share of operations, maintenance and renewal. One year of the Denver share above, from the city's Final 2026 budget book. The book calls the line I-70 Availability Payment and does not name Central 70, so placing it here is our reading. | City and County of Denver | Carriedbudgeted | $2,688,010 | FACT A | City and County of Denver, Final 2026 budget book, capital schedule, Capital Improvement Fundread 16 October 2026 |
| CDOT existing I-70 corridor operations and maintenance spending | State of Colorado | Raised here | PENDING The profile names this source of the operations, maintenance and renewal payments and prints no amount. | Not published | |
| Express toll lane revenue | State of Colorado | Raised here | PENDING The profile names toll revenue as a source of the operations, maintenance and renewal payments and prints no amount. | Not published | |
| Federal TIFIA loanRepaid from: Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration fees. Secured by the availability payments. A $464.96 million TIFIA loan replaced it in September 2021; that loan is the last federal line in this table. | Federal government | Financingcommitted | $416,000,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, concessionaire's financing sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| TIFIA capitalized interestRepaid from: Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration fees. | Federal government | Financingcommitted | $39,100,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, concessionaire's financing sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Milestone payments during construction, from the two state enterprisesRepaid from: Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration fees. | State of Colorado | Financingcommitted | $319,000,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, concessionaire's financing sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Private activity bondsRepaid from: Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration fees. The Build America Bureau prints $114.7 million of proceeds and a $6.3 million premium, which add to $121.0 million; this line keeps the profile's $120.7 million. | Private partner and bondholders WITHHELD | Financingcommitted | $120,700,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, concessionaire's financing sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Partner equityRepaid from: Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration fees. The Build America Bureau prints $66 million. | Private partner and bondholders WITHHELD | Financingcommitted | $65,900,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, concessionaire's financing sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| Interest incomeRepaid from: Bridge Enterprise share, from the bridge safety surcharge on vehicle registration fees. | Private partner and bondholders WITHHELD | Financingcommitted | $400,000 | FACT B | FHWA Project Profile: Central 70, concessionaire's financing sourcesread 16 October 2026 |
| TIFIA loan that replaced the first one, September 2021The lender's own record. It replaced the $416 million loan at a lower rate and added nearly $50 million of principal. Shown in the table only, never added. | Federal government | Context, not added | $464,960,000 | FACT A | U.S. DOT Build America Bureau, Central 70 project page, Financial Statusread 16 October 2026 |
| CDOT's own total project cost, from its announcement of the projectCDOT's 5 December 2022 completion release repeats it ("At $1.2 billion"). The $1,271 million on the ruler is a different measure: the cost the federal loan program counted as eligible. | State of Colorado | Context, not added | $1,200,000,000 | FACT A | CDOT news release, 5 December 2022, Central 70 completion ("At $1.2 billion"); the dataset reads the same figure from CDOT's August 2017 selection releaseread 16 October 2026 |
Not published, and what would close each gap
- CDOT existing I-70 corridor operations and maintenance spending. The profile names this source of the operations, maintenance and renewal payments and prints no amount.
- Express toll lane revenue. The profile names toll revenue as a source of the operations, maintenance and renewal payments and prints no amount.
Sources
- FHWA Center for Innovative Finance Support, Project Profile: Central 70 (no last-updated date printed) · read 16 October 2026
- City and County of Denver, Final 2026 budget book, capital schedule, Capital Improvement Fund · read 16 October 2026
- U.S. DOT Build America Bureau, Central 70 project page, Financial Status · read 16 October 2026
- CDOT news release, 5 December 2022, Central 70 completion ("At $1.2 billion"); the dataset reads the same figure from CDOT's August 2017 selection release · read 16 October 2026
The ledger was reviewed on 16 October 2026. Contractors, private partners and investors are withheld on every project. A figure that changes is logged in the corrections log.