COLORADO: From transportation agency to state’s urban planner: CDOT’s new mission is to micromanage your life.

Over the last few years, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has had a habit of playing fast and loose with taxpayer money, and setting their own priorities regardless of what those of Coloradans might be. In part, they’re able to get away with this because CDOT’s governing body, the Colorado Transportation Commission, is appointed entirely by the governor, with the approval of the state Senate.

In 2019, an audit found that “Budget-to-actuals analysis cannot be performed for nearly $1.3 billion — about 80 percent — of the department’s approved budget…” This resulted in precisely none of the commissioners overseeing CDOT tendering their resignations. Now, the state auditor is looking into possible favoritism toward an out-of-state contracting company. The commissioners have lost control of the department.

Now, the commissioners also appear to have lost touch with the citizens whose money they’re spending.

This past December, they voted to adopt a rule that could end up redirecting billions of dollars from roads and highways toward inefficient boutique “green” transit. It would also encourage denser housing, thus limiting people’s ability to buy single-family homes. The new rule even manages to work “equity” into the mix, echoing questionable arguments made by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

#DefundEverything, it’s all been weaponized.