Adams County, Colorado

Road Impact Fee Study
   

As part of a larger transportation finance study with Charlier Associates, Duncan Associates prepared a road development fee study for the western portion of the county, which surrounds Denver International Airport. A number of major land uses and geographic features, including the Airport, South Platte River, Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Barr Lake State Park, as well as a number of creeks, pose barriers to the continuity of the arterial road system. For these reasons, road impact fees were developed only for the western part of the county. Road impact fees were calculated using a demand-based methodology.

The study concluded that an improvements-driven approach would be difficult to implement for Adams County due to the fact that much of the demand on County-maintained roads is coming from development that is occurring within the municipalities. The reliance on the accuracy of the long-range tranpsortation plan was similarly judged to be problematic, since future annexation by municipalities, and consequently the future road system that will actually be the County's responsibility, was impossible to predict. The recommended demand-driven approach avoided these problems.