Posted on 08/29/2006 8:04:14 PM PDT by Marius3188
Super Slab, the proposed 210-mile long road curving through Colorado's eastern plains from Fort Collins to Pueblo, has been reborn as the $2.5 billion "Prairie Falcon Parkway Express."
The Front Range Toll Road Ltd., doing business as the Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company, announced Monday it has filed a new corridor plan with the Colorado Secretary of State's office. The company is sending official notices via certified mail to owners of property along the project's path, said spokesman Jason Hopfer.
About 4,000 notices were mailed, although the company figures there's only about 2,000 individual property owners -- some owning more than one parcel -- along the proposed path through Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, El Paso, Larimer, Pueblo and Weld counties.
Super Slab, an idea of developer Ray Wells, was opposed by thousands of rural property owners -- including cable pioneer and mogul John Malone, who owns tens of thousands of acres of land in Douglas and Elbert counties.
The corridor was reborn a mere 3 miles wide, in accordance with new state laws governing the private construction of toll roads, down from the 12-mile wide behemoth initially proposed. In final form, the corridor -- used for toll roads, rail lines and other utilities -- will be just 1,200 feet wide, Hopfer said.
Also in compliance with the new laws, the company doesn't have eminent domain power to condemn land for the project. Land can be condemned only through a public-private partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation, Hopfer said.
"This is a project that will be done with willing sellers and local government," he said.
Local and state transportation groups also have to approve the project before ground can be broken.
Hopfer said the project is expected to cost about $2.5 billion and is being backed by an investor group that he declined to identify. In accordance with new state laws, an environmental impact study must be under way within three years of the proposed corridor filing with the Secretary of State's office, Hopfer said.
"This project is about connecting communities, preserving habitat and strengthening commerce on Colorado's short grass prairie. Its intended to reduce traffic along I-25, decrease rail traffic through Colorado Springs, Denver, and numerous other municipalities, to strengthen economic opportunities for communities along the corridor and preserve open space and wildlife habitat," Ray Wells, founder of the Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company, said in a statement.
Government agencies, including regional and state planning and regulatory agencies, will review the project, environmental analyses and proposed mitigation measures, the company said.
The proposed path starts about 13 to 16 miles north of Fort Collins and ends about seven to 10 miles south of Pueblo. The route is about 25 miles east and roughly parallel to Interstate 25.
The announcement said the Front Range Toll Road Ltd. LLLP has acquired all assets and rights of and interest in the Front Range Toll Road Co. to proceed with the project, has filed with the Colorado Secretary of State and is conducting its business under the name Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Co.
The Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company will provide detailed information on its Web site at www.PrairieFalconParkwayExpress.com, through its call center at 1-800-977-8393 and via other public meetings and direct contact with property owners, the announcement said.
"Super Slab, an idea of developer Ray Wells, was opposed by thousands of rural property owners.."
Surprise.
"The corridor was reborn a mere 3 miles wide, in accordance with new state laws governing the private construction of toll roads, down from the 12-mile wide behemoth initially proposed. In final form, the corridor -- used for toll roads, rail lines and other utilities -- will be just 1,200 feet wide, Hopfer said."
Mere 3 miles wide! Is this guy crazy! Originally 12 miles! Now maybe 1200ft in final form. Great.
"Also in compliance with the new laws, the company doesn't have eminent domain power to condemn land for the project. Land can be condemned only through a public-private partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation, Hopfer said.
"This is a project that will be done with willing sellers and local government," he said. "
-Love that one. Public-Private partnership. If there is no willing sellers, does that mean he will use the Gov't to get the land?
"Hopfer said the project is expected to cost about $2.5 billion and is being backed by an investor group that he declined to identify.."
-No doubt a foreign Spanish company.
Keep a eye on this one!
From another article:
Laws passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Bill Owens include a requirement that developers follow the same rules that govern Colorado Department of Transportation road building, including plugging into state and regional transportation plans. A new law also strips eminent domain power from the company, but still allows land to be condemned through a public-private partnership with the state transportation department.
A railroad company formed by Wells to build tracks along the highway also would have condemnation authority."
http://cbs4denver.com/topstories/local_story_241090431.html
-Amazing.
There is something familiar about this. No no no! Wait! Don't tell me! It's right on the tip of my tongue.... /s off
When the original SS was proposed, it was opposed with great passion. Never going to happen. If they try to force it, I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least one armed standoff. This is after all western ranching territory.
SS, or whatever guise it is going by now... Is a solution in search of a need. I've heard all kinds of crazy ideas as to why it is really being pushed. One of the oddest being a means of moving old chemical munitions from an army base up outside of Denver to the plant near Pueblo where they could be destroyed. The gotcha is, State (and/or Federal?) law prohibits moving chemical munitions via public roadways. Hmm, a privately owned toll road on the other hand...
Who knows for real. But the idea of the SS is so out there it borders on the absurd. It would be funny if it didn't have really money backing it and legs to come back again and again.
Why do I keep thinking about Denver International Airport when I read this? Does somebody own some land that they WANT to sell?
Given how fantastically expensive the SS or whatever would be to develop and operate... I can't imagine how the "investors" would ever hope to recoup their original investment, let alone make any kind of profit that would justify the risk.
I just keep thinking there has got to be something else we're not being told. Some other incentive or revenue source.
So what's the deal? I don't get it. This thing would run straight through a lot of big ranches out there that have been in families for generations. Even if you went "Poof" and put it there for free, I still don't see the usefulness.
That thing just isn't gonna die, is it?
I was just reading today's TownHall.com article by Phyllis Schlafly - Greedy politicians seduced by siren song of filthy foreign lucre - and wondered if there was a connection here? Foreign countries are buying up toll roads all over the country. Makes you a little suspicious.
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