CDOT’s Executive Director, Shailen Bhatt started his first tour of the state when he’d been in Colorado less than 24 hours. Clearly Mr. Bhatt, who came to Colorado from Delaware, is smart and informed. Without being prompted he pointed out that the Governor voiced his support for the expansion of I-25 during his State of the State speech last month.

Bhatt said we can’t expect the federal government to fix the transportation “problem.” The federal government doesn’t have the money to bail out the states. Nevertheless, he noted that “transportation is the lifeblood of the economy” and argued that other states will “eat our lunch in the jobs war” if we don’t get more funding. Let’s hope this new director will have the grit and stamina to help Colorado find a way to fund its transportation needs.