Denver City Wire

Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, recently presented her transportation plan, which aims to improve road conditions and relieve traffic congestion in the state.

Ganahl's transportation plan would spend $10 billion over the next 10 years, with $3.5 billion directed to TABOR-260 voter-approved projects, $3.5 billion directed to a general fund match for voter-approved projects and $3 billion directed to public-private partnership projects, according to her website. Ganahl's plan targets specific roads and areas, including I-25, I-70 and I-270.

"Today I presented my 10-year transportation plan at a press conference in front of CDOT Headquarters, a $10 billion investment in Colorado highways, bridges, tunnels and safety," Ganahl wrote in a Sept. 15 Facebook post. "My plan targets the roads in our state that are in the poorest condition. It actually relieves congestion by expanding roads and, in turn, gets people out of traffic and to work and home faster, therefore benefiting our environment and every part of Colorado. While Polis' updated plan cuts paving dollars for rural Colorado in half, my plan will FIX THE DARN ROADS across our state. Time to UNLEASH Colorado transportation."

Ganahl said her transportation plan will be a partnership with Colorado residents. 

"There will be no hiding behind fees. My plan is TRANSPARENT. Coloradans will be able to VOTE on where their money is coming from and how it will be invested. They'll know exactly what this is paying for and there will be no wiggle room for pet projects," Ganahl wrote in a separate Facebook post. 

Gov. Jared Polis enacted SB21-260, a $5.4 billion infrastructure bill that he said would "fix the damn roads," but according to Ganahl, only about a third of that money is actually going toward roads and bridges, while the rest is being put toward "Polis’ pet energy projects," according to a release from Ganahl's campaign.

Polis' SB21-260 has added new fees for Colorado drivers, including a 27-cent tax on deliveries, a 30-cent ride-sharing tax and an inflation-adjusted increase on rental car fees, according to ThePolisTax.

A report from MoneyGeek last updated in August ranks Colorado's roads at the 14th-worst in the nation, with 18% of the state's roads in "poor" condition, and just 41% in "good" condition. The analysis did not find a correlation between state spending and road condition and notes that tax-friendly states do not have worse roads than states with higher taxes.

Ganahl defeated Greg Lopez in the Republican primary in June and will face off against Polis (D) in the November general election, according to Ballotpedia.