Toll Road Companies

C.R.S. tit. 7, art. 45
in effect

C.R.S. § 7-45-101 Formation of toll road or toll highway company - description of corridor

7-45-101. Formation of toll road or toll highway company - description of corridor. (1) A toll road or toll highway company shall be formed under Colorado law. On and after June 2, 2008, a toll road or toll highway company may not specify and map a transportation corridor in its filed formation document, and any corridor included in a filed formation document filed before June 2, 2008, shall not be deemed to give the filing toll road or toll highway company any property right or exclusive development right of any kind within the corridor other than as specified in section 7-45-103. If a toll road or toll highway company complies with the provisions of this article, it shall have the power to erect toll gates and set and collect tolls. (2) The secretary of state shall maintain a list of all toll road and toll highway companies and shall make the list and the filed formation documents for all toll road and toll highway companies available to the public. To allow the secretary of state to efficiently compile and maintain an accessible list, a toll road or toll highway company shall include the designation "PTR" in its official name as specified in its filed formation document. (3) and (4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2008, p. 1707, § 1, effective June 2, 2008.)

C.R.S. § 7-45-102 Definitions

7-45-102. Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Associated rail corridor" means a corridor for a proposed rail line and any related rail facilities necessary for the operation of a rail line that are to be located in the right-of-way of a toll road or toll highway. (2) "Associated service area" means a gas station, restaurant, or other travel-related service that serves motorists using a toll road or toll highway. (3) "Associated utility corridor" means a utility line or system and any related infrastructure used to convey gas, electricity, water, sewage, telecommunications signals, data, or other media located or to be located in the right-of-way of a toll road or toll highway. (4) "Commenting state agencies" means the department of transportation, the department of public health and environment, the department of natural resources, the department of agriculture, and the department of local affairs. (5) "Commercial, residential, and industrial development" means the development of offices, shops, stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, warehouses, factories, houses, apartments, condominiums, and other buildings and structures used for the sale and rental of goods or services, for the manufacture, fabrication, assembly, or storage of products, or for sleeping or dwelling. (6) "Company" means a domestic corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, limited liability limited partnership, limited partnership association, nonprofit association, nonprofit corporation, cooperative, or other organization or association that is created under a statute or common law of this state and that is recognized under the law of this state as a separate legal entity. (7) "Filed formation document" means articles of incorporation, articles of organization, a certificate of limited partnership, articles of association, a statement of registration, or any other document of similar import filed by an entity with the secretary of state under which the entity is formed or obtains its legal status in this state. (7.3) "New toll road or toll highway company" means a toll road or toll highway company that, as of June 2, 2008, has not specified and mapped a three-mile corridor in its filed formation document as was required by section 7-45-101 (1) before June 2, 2008. (7.5) "Preexisting toll road or toll highway company" means a toll road or toll highway company that, as of June 2, 2008, had specified and mapped a three-mile corridor in its filed formation document as was required by section 7-45-101 (1) before June 2, 2008. (8) "Toll road" or "toll highway" means a series of improvements, including but not limited to paving, grading, landscaping, curbs, gutters, culverts, sidewalks, bikeways, lighting, bridges, overpasses, underpasses, frontage roads, access roads, interchanges, drainage facilities, mass transit lanes, park and ride facilities, toll collection facilities, administrative or maintenance facilities, and emergency response and law enforcement services. Nothing in this article shall be construed to affect any common carrier, as defined in section 40-1-102 (3), C.R.S., including, but not limited to, any railroad. Any utility line, system, or infrastructure shall be subject to a reasonable fee and reasonable relocation provisions. (9) "Toll road or toll highway company" means a company that proposes to construct a toll road or toll highway in this state under the provisions of this article. (10) "Toll road or toll highway project" or "project" means a proposed toll road or toll highway together with any associated rail corridor, associated service area, or associated utility corridor.

C.R.S. § 7-45-103 Deadline to commence work - maintenance of effort requirement

7-45-103. Deadline to commence work - maintenance of effort requirement. A preexisting toll road or toll highway company shall commence work, including but not limited to planning, design, environmental mitigation, and other preconstruction work, on the toll road or toll highway proposed in its filed formation document no later than three years after the filing of the document or within one year after receiving all necessary approvals for construction. If any necessary approval is the subject of administrative or judicial review, then the one-year period shall be automatically extended until one year after all administrative or judicial review has been concluded. The preexisting toll road or toll highway company and any successor toll road or toll highway company shall continue the work from day to day until at least five hundred thousand dollars have been expended on the toll road or toll highway. If the preexisting toll road or toll highway company fails to perform the required work, it shall forfeit all rights to develop and construct the proposed toll road or toll highway. If the preexisting toll road or toll highway company performs the required work, it shall have the exclusive right to seek approval to develop a toll road or toll highway within the three-mile corridor specified in its filed formation document as required by section 7-45-101 (1) before June 2, 2008, and, only if such approval is granted, the exclusive right to develop a toll road or toll highway within the corridor.

C.R.S. § 7-45-104 Acquisition of right-of-way

7-45-104. Acquisition of right-of-way. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 38-2-101, C.R.S., on and after June 6, 2006, a preexisting toll road or toll highway company shall not have the power to exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire any part of the right-of-way of the three-mile corridor of a proposed toll road or toll highway specified in the filed formation document of the company as required by section 7-45-101 (1) and a new toll road or toll highway company shall not have the power to exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire any part of the right-of-way of a toll road or toll highway it proposes to construct. Nothing herein shall prohibit a preexisting or new toll road or toll highway company from entering into a public-private initiative with the department of transportation in accordance with the provisions of part 12 of article 1 of title 43, C.R.S., and as authorized in section 7-45-111 for the purpose of enabling the construction of a toll road or toll highway, but in such a case the power of eminent domain shall not be exercised by the toll road or toll highway company and may be exercised by the department only for purposes of acquiring property and rights-of-way necessary for the completion of a toll road or toll highway open to the public that is incorporated into the comprehensive statewide transportation plan prepared pursuant to section 43-1-1103 (5), C.R.S. The department may not use the power of eminent domain provided in this section to acquire a cemetery, as defined in section 10-15-102 (2), C.R.S., or property owned by or primarily used by a religious organization. In exercising the power of eminent domain, the department shall comply with all laws and administrative rules that govern the department's use of eminent domain for state highway projects, and the rights-of-way acquired shall form a corridor no larger than that approved by all affected metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning commissions, and the transportation commission pursuant to sections 7-45-105 and 7-45-106. In accordance with section 43-1-1204 (3)(b), C.R.S., the department may not sell or otherwise transfer ownership of property or rights-of-way acquired through the exercise of the power of eminent domain as authorized by this section to a toll road or toll highway company. (2) As used in this section, "religious organization" means any organization, church, body of communicants, or group, not for pecuniary profit, gathered in common membership for mutual support and edification in piety, worship, and religious observances or a society, not for pecuniary profit, of individuals united for religious purposes at a definite place.

C.R.S. § 7-45-105 Planning standards and project review

7-45-105. Planning standards and project review. (1) A preexisting or new toll road or toll highway company shall not commence the construction of a toll road or toll highway or of any other element of a toll road or toll highway project until the toll road or toll highway or other element has been reviewed by every metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission that is located in whole or in part within the three-mile corridor designated by the preexisting toll road or toll highway company as required by section 7-45-101 (1) before June 2, 2008, or that is located in whole or in part within the proposed route of the toll road or toll highway proposed by the new toll road or toll highway company and has been included in the regional transportation plan in effect for the region pursuant to section 43-1-1103, C.R.S., and in the comprehensive statewide transportation plan required pursuant to section 43-1-1103 (5), C.R.S. In designated nonattainment areas for any pollutant pursuant to the federal "Clean Air Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 7401 et seq., as amended, a metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission shall not include a toll road or toll highway project in the regional transportation plan unless the organization or commission has performed an emissions analysis that demonstrates that regional emissions and local project emissions will continue to conform to the state implementation plan if the project is added to the regional transportation plan. The toll road or toll highway company shall pay the reasonable actual costs for the emissions analysis. Each organization or commission may condition its addition of a toll road or toll highway project into the regional transportation plan upon acceptable environmental mitigation activities and commitments to offset incremental costs of public services that will be necessary as a result of development of the project within the planning region. (2) At least thirty days before a metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission may amend its regional transportation plan pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, a toll road or toll highway company shall provide the organization or commission information on the toll road or toll highway project being considered for addition to the plan that includes the final environmental documentation required by section 7-45-106 (1)(b)(IV), the operating plan for the project, the technology to be utilized, an assessment of project feasibility, and an assessment of the long-term viability of the project. (3) (a) At the discretion of a metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission, a regional plan may initially be amended to include only environmental and preconstruction activities, excluding right-of-way acquisition, relating to a toll road or toll highway project and may later be amended to include actual construction and right-of-way acquisition of the project following agreement by the metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission that acceptable environmental mitigation activities and commitments to offset incremental costs of public services are included in the project plans. isition, relating to a toll road or toll highway project and may later be amended to include actual construction and right-of-way acquisition of the project following agreement by the metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission that acceptable environmental mitigation activities and commitments to offset incremental costs of public services are included in the project plans. (b) Upon request of a local government located in whole or in part within the three-mile corridor of a proposed toll road or toll highway or toll road or toll highway project specified and mapped by a preexisting toll road or toll highway company in its filed formation document as required by section 7-45-101 (1) before June 2, 2008, or located in whole or in part within the proposed route of a toll road or toll highway proposed by a new toll road or toll highway company, a preexisting or new toll road or toll highway company shall consult with representatives from the local government and shall consider available mitigation of demonstrable negative impacts on the local government or its citizens that would result from the construction, operation, or financing of the toll road or toll highway or project.

C.R.S. § 7-45-106 Environmental standards and review

7-45-106. Environmental standards and review. (1) (a) Before constructing and operating a toll road or toll highway or any other element of a toll road or toll highway project, a toll road or toll highway company shall prepare, at its own expense, environmental documentation that complies with the environmental stewardship guide approved by the transportation commission in May 2005. The documentation shall describe the environmental, social, and economic effects of the proposed toll road, toll highway, or project, identify feasible measures to avoid or otherwise mitigate the adverse effects of the project, and estimate the financial costs to implement mitigation measures that are included in the project or have been previously recommended in writing by the commenting state agencies or an affected metropolitan planning organization or regional transportation commission and comply with federal and state air and water quality standards, approvals, and permits. (b) (I) A toll road or toll highway company shall not begin work on environmental documentation required by paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) until it has obtained preliminary approval from the executive director of the department of transportation that the scope of the planned environmental documentation is consistent with the environmental stewardship guide issued by the department in May 2005 and all other requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1). (II) A toll road or toll highway company shall provide a copy of any draft environmental documentation it prepares as required by paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) to the commenting state agencies, affected metropolitan planning organizations and regional planning commissions, and affected local governments. The toll road or toll highway company shall also make the draft environmental documentation electronically or otherwise available to the public. The commenting state agencies may, within sixty days, provide the toll road or toll highway company and affected metropolitan planning organizations and regional planning commissions with their analyses of the adequacy of the environmental documentation and shall make the analyses available to the public. (III) Each of the commenting agencies may charge a fee to a toll road or toll highway company to cover the reasonable expenses that it incurred in fulfilling the requirements of subparagraphs (I) and (II), as applicable, of this paragraph (b). (IV) A toll road or toll highway company shall prepare final environmental documentation that addresses comments received from the commenting state agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning commissions, and other interested parties. The final environmental documentation shall be made available to the department of transportation and the public at least thirty days prior to publication of any notice of hearing scheduled by the commission pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. (2) The transportation commission created in section 43-1-106, C.R.S., shall not revise the comprehensive statewide transportation plan prepared pursuant to section 43-1-1103 (5), C.R.S., to include a toll road, toll highway, or toll road or toll highway project subject to the requirements of this section unless the commission, after holding a public hearing, determines that: (a) The requirements of section 7-45-105 and subsection (1) of this section have been met; (b) The toll road, toll highway, or project is: (I) Necessary to meet the transportation needs of the state; (II) Consistent with section 43-1-1103 (5), C.R.S., and the policies of the transportation commission; (III) Consistent with 23 U.S.C. sec. 135; and (IV) In the public interest; determines that: (a) The requirements of section 7-45-105 and subsection (1) of this section have been met; (b) The toll road, toll highway, or project is: (I) Necessary to meet the transportation needs of the state; (II) Consistent with section 43-1-1103 (5), C.R.S., and the policies of the transportation commission; (III) Consistent with 23 U.S.C. sec. 135; and (IV) In the public interest; (c) The toll road, toll highway, or project sponsor has established a reserve fund, performance bond, or other appropriate mechanism to ensure full payment of the costs of compliance with federal and state air and water quality standards, other federal and state environmental requirements, and mitigation measures included in the toll road, toll highway, or project or required by the transportation commission, a metropolitan planning organization, or a regional planning commission; and (d) The toll road, toll highway, or project sponsor has entered into enforceable agreements with the department of transportation, or agreements with affected local governments that are acceptable to the transportation commission, to ensure that mitigation measures included in the project or required by the transportation commission, a metropolitan planning organization, or a regional planning commission will be implemented. (3) The transportation commission may condition its addition of a toll road or toll highway or a toll road or toll highway project into the comprehensive statewide transportation plan upon additional mitigation measures if the commission determines that the mitigation measures are in the best overall public interest taking into consideration: (a) The need for fast, safe, and efficient transportation; (b) Public services; (c) The costs of eliminating or minimizing the adverse effects for which the mitigation measures are proposed; (d) Environmental, social, and economic values; and (e) The financial feasibility of the toll road, toll highway, or project.

C.R.S. § 7-45-107 Construction safety standards

7-45-107. Construction safety standards. When constructing and maintaining a toll road or toll highway or any other element of a toll road or toll highway project, a toll road or toll highway company shall comply with all department of transportation safety standards for state transportation projects.

C.R.S. § 7-45-108 Notice requirements for proposed toll roads and toll highways - removal from titles and voiding of previously filed and recorded documents

7-45-108. Notice requirements for proposed toll roads and toll highways - removal from titles and voiding of previously filed and recorded documents. (1) (a) Within ninety days of June 2, 2008: (I) The county clerk and recorder of each county in which a preexisting toll road or toll highway company filed a disclaimer of interest and map pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (1), as said paragraph (b) existed before June 2, 2008, shall transfer the map, but not the disclaimer of interest, to the board of county commissioners of the county; and (II) A preexisting toll road or toll highway company shall provide a copy of the map, but not the disclaimer of interest, that the company filed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (1), as said paragraph (b) existed before June 2, 2008, to the governing body of each municipality that is included within the three-mile corridor specified and mapped in the company's filed formation document. (b) (I) Any properly authorized written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map filed or recorded by a preexisting toll road or toll highway company as required by subsection (1) of this section, as said subsection (1) existed before June 2, 2008, is hereby declared void and of no effect. The voiding of a written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map pursuant to this paragraph (b) conclusively establishes that the written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map does not affect the title to any property or have any other legal effect, and a title insurance company or title insurance agent shall exclude a void written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map from any documents it prepares on or after June 2, 2008. (II) No cause of action at law or in equity shall be maintained based upon: (A) The act of preparing, filing, or recording a written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map filed or recorded by a preexisting toll road or toll highway company pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, as said subsection (1) existed before June 2, 2008, that was subsequently voided pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b); (B) The voiding of such a written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map; or (C) The inclusion or exclusion of such a written notice, disclaimer of interest, or map from any document prepared by a title insurance company or title insurance agent. (2) Within ninety days of the inclusion of a toll road or toll highway or any other element of a toll road or toll highway project proposed by a preexisting or new toll road or toll highway company in the comprehensive statewide transportation plan as required by section 7-45-105 (1), the toll road or toll highway company shall send written notice to each person who owns real property within the proposed route of the proposed toll road, toll highway, or project of the intent of the toll road or toll highway company to construct the proposed toll road, toll highway, or element of the project. The toll road or toll highway company shall send the notice by certified mail and shall describe the proposed toll road, toll highway, or project, including its location, termini, improvements, and operation.

C.R.S. § 7-45-109 Use of land by toll road or toll highway company - right to repurchase unneeded condemned property

7-45-109. Use of land by toll road or toll highway company - right to repurchase unneeded condemned property. Any interest in real property that is obtained by a preexisting toll road or toll highway company, other than a leasehold interest in property or rights-of-way acquired and owned by the department of transportation as authorized in section 7-45-104, within the three-mile corridor specified and mapped in its filed formation document as was required by section 7-45-101 (1) before June 2, 2008, and any interest in real property that is obtained by a new toll road or toll highway company, other than a leasehold interest in property or rights-of-way acquired and owned by the department of transportation as authorized in section 7-45-104, within the proposed route of the toll road or toll highway proposed by the new toll road or toll highway company on or after June 2, 2008, and that is not used for a toll road or toll highway project shall not be used for commercial, residential, or industrial development; except that this limitation on use shall apply only during the period in which the toll road or toll highway company is developing or operating a toll road or toll highway within the corridor or proposed route. If the development or operation of a toll road or toll highway ceases after the department has exercised the power of eminent domain to acquire property deemed at the time of acquisition to be necessary for the completion of the toll road or toll highway as authorized in section 7-45-104, a person from whom the department acquired property through the exercise of eminent domain has an exclusive option to repurchase the property acquired at the price paid for the property as just compensation by the department. The person may exercise the option within eighteen months following the cessation of the development or operation of the toll road or toll highway.

C.R.S. § 7-45-110 Sale of interest in or assets of a toll road or toll highway company

7-45-110. Sale of interest in or assets of a toll road or toll highway company. (1) If any interest in a preexisting or new toll road or toll highway company is sold or transferred, the toll road or toll highway company shall continue to comply with the limitations set forth in section 7-45-109. (2) If a preexisting or new toll road or toll highway company sells or transfers any interest in its real property within the three-mile corridor specified in the filed formation document of the preexisting toll road or toll highway company or within the proposed route of the toll road or toll highway proposed by the new toll road or toll highway company that is not used for the toll road or toll highway, then the purchaser shall comply with the limitations set forth in section 7-45-109. (3) If a toll road, toll highway, or toll road or toll highway project is included in the comprehensive statewide transportation plan required pursuant to section 43-1-1103 (5), C.R.S., before the toll road or toll highway company completes a subsequent sale or transfer of assets or rights generating more than twenty percent of the current revenue from the toll road, toll highway, or project, the purchaser must demonstrate to the transportation commission, and the commission must determine, that following the sale or transfer the resources needed to comply with federal and state water quality standards and other federal and state environmental requirements and to implement mitigation measures that were included in the toll road or toll highway project description or required by a metropolitan planning organization, a regional planning commission, or the transportation commission will still be available for those purposes.

C.R.S. § 7-45-111 Public-private initiatives

7-45-111. Public-private initiatives. Nothing contained in this article shall prohibit a toll road or toll highway company from entering into a public-private initiative with the department of transportation in accordance with the provisions of part 12 of article 1 of title 43, C.R.S., for the purpose of enabling the construction of a toll road, toll highway, or project. Any such project shall comply with the requirements of this article.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-07.docxFetched: 10/6/2026