The Prairie Falcon Parkway Express cannot go forward until a state mandated review and approval process has been completed.  The process required by the Colorado statute includes the following steps.

Step 1:

Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company files company formation documents with the Colorado Secretary of State, which specifies and maps a three-mile corridor within which the toll road will be located, and identifies the general location and termini within the corridor.

Step 2:

Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company must begin work on the toll road no later than three years after filing the formation document, or within one year after receiving all necessary approvals for construction. If the company performs the required work, it shall have the exclusive right to develop a toll road within the three-mile corridor specified in its filed formation documents.

Step 3:

Before constructing and operating a toll road, the Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company must prepare environmental studies and reports satisfying the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Environmental Stewardship Guide dated May 2005. The company cannot begin work on environmental studies and reports until it has approval of the scope of the study from the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Transportation. The environmental studies and report are also provided to commenting state agencies, affected planning organizations, and affected local governments. The draft shall also be made available for public review and comment. The Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company is required to prepare final environmental studies and a report addressing comments received from all reviewers. The final environmental study and report is made available to the Colorado Department of Transportation for public hearing.

Step 4:

Construction cannot commence until the toll road has been reviewed by each Metropolitan Planning Organization or Regional Planning Organization located in whole or in part within the three mile corridor. The project needs to be included in the regional transportation plan(s) and in the comprehensive statewide transportation plan prepared by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

Step 5:

The Transportation Commission shall not revise the comprehensive statewide transportation plan to include a toll road unless the Commission, after holding a public hearing, determines that the project is:

• Necessary to meet the transportation needs of the state;
• Consistent with the policies of the Transportation Commission;
• In the public interest;
• Has been funded by Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company 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 project or required by the Transportation Commission or planning organization; and
• Has entered into enforceable agreements between the Prairie Falcon Parkway Express Company and Colorado Department of Transportation or local governments acceptable to the Transportation Commission to ensure that mitigation measures will be implemented.
• Compliant with any mitigation measures added by the Commission, which take into consideration the need for fast, safe, and efficient transportation; public services; the costs of eliminating or minimizing the adverse effects for which the mitigation measures are proposed; environmental, social, and economic values; and the financial feasibility of the project.
• Compliant with the requirements of Section 7-45-105 (1) of the Colorado Revised Statutes have been met and the Project is consistent with 43-1-1103 (5) C.R.S. and 23 U.S.C. Sec. 135.

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