Don Hunt, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, is leaving his post as part of an agreement he made with newly re-elected Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Hunt, who was appointed by Hickenlooper to head CDOT in January 2011, said Thursday he will stay on as head of the agency at least through the end of the year.
“I told the governor in late 2011 that there was no way I will be around for a second term, just so you know, ” Hunt said. “I’ve probably told hundreds of people in the agency and in Colorado that I’m not a second-termer.”
Hunt said he won’t walk out the door at CDOT until his successor is found. “I don’t plan to leave until we find the right person for Colorado,” Hunt said.
Hickenlooper said Thursday that Hunt’s time in office was highlighted by CDOT’s flood recovery efforts and innovations in transportation funding that speeded up road construction and maintenance.
“Don has set up CDOT for success, and his successor has big shoes to fill,” Hickenlooper said.
“His leadership directed CDOT through one of the most challenging times in its history during last year’s floods, and we as a state owe our gratitude to his extraordinary leadership and vision for this organization.”
Hunt, 63, oversees 3,300 employees statewide and a $1.2 billion budget. CDOT maintains, repairs and plows more than 23,000 total lane miles of highway as well as 3,437 bridges.
CDOT crews also keep more than 35 mountain passes open year-round.
Under Hunt, CDOT reopened 27 roads in Colorado that were battered by historic September 2013 flooding weeks before a Dec. 1 deadline set by Hickenlooper.
Hunt also initiated new efforts to take on big road projects while under tight budgetary constraints.
The Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnership — or RAMP — calls for CDOT to fund multiyear projects based on year-of-expenditures, rather than saving for the full amount for a project before construction begins.
The RAMP program makes full use of public-private partnerships, which allow private firms to bid for building, maintaining and setting tolls on new roads.
A prime example is the expansion of I-25, which would allow a company to charge tolls in one lane from Colorado 7 to Colorado 66, funding the addition of a third lane in both directions of I-25 between Fort Collins and Longmont.
Hunt’s tenure also has been controversial.
He is proposing a $1.8 billion makeover of I-70 in northeast Denver that critics say is reckless. The plan calls for removing a decaying, 50-year-old viaduct between Brighton Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard and lowering the highway below grade.
CDOT also will add toll lanes between I-25 and Tower Road and place a 4-acre, landscaped cover over the highway by Swansea Elementary School.
The plan will reduce travel time through the corridor by one-third to one-half by 2035 and reunite the Swansea and Elyria neighborhoods, Hunt said.
But critics say widening the highway and running it below ground will be an environmental disaster. Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher calls the plan a “boondoggle.”
CDOT’s agreement with Plenary Roads Denver to widen and add toll lanes on U.S. 36 between Denver and Boulder was loudly attacked by some — including some state lawmakers — as being too secretive.
Boulder attorney Karen Hammer claims CDOT and Hunt are guilty of conflict of interest and securities disclosure violations.
On. Oct. 24, the state of Colorado notified the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board that from 2009 through 2011 it had not filed certain required financial paperwork on nearly three dozen bond issues.
The SEC filings are actually the result of state legislation aimed at centralizing the issuance and management of its financial obligations, said Brett Johnson, Colorado deputy secretary treasurer.
Prior to 2012, Colorado had no entity that organized and managed debt or financial obligations, Johnson said. But the passage in 2012 of Senate Bill 150 allowed the treasurer to beef up reporting requirements on bonds and other financial obligations issued from various state agencies and to refinance those obligations.
CDOT, for instance, realized a $2.4 million savings from the refinancing of revenue bonds issued for the T-Rex project.
The SEC filings cited by Hammer “have no correlation, whatsoever, to Don Hunt,” Johnson said.
Federal securities laws require bond issuers to file financial data each year, or inform investors it would be late and why.
The note issues occurred in 2002, 2004 and 2011, according to the state filing, with 2004 issues carrying the largest number of series.
Hammer also named CDOT and two other defendants in a federal lawsuit for not properly authorizing the 50-year agreement with Plenary Roads Denver and the bonds issued for the project.
“We’re hoping that Mr. Hunt’s announcement that he’s leaving CDOT is an indication that either Mr. Hunt wants to distance himself from the mess at CDOT … or that Gov. Hickenlooper feels secure enough following his recent re-election to do the housecleaning necessary to get … CDOT back into compliance with its federal and state transparency accountability obligations,” Hammer said Thursday.
Hunt said he wasn’t named in the federal lawsuit and hasn’t studied Hammer’s claims about the security disclosure violations.
“I’m trying to understand what she is saying, but I honestly cannot connect A to B,” Hunt said.
CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said a federal judge has dismissed a temporary injuction in the suit, addressing most of the allegations. The suit is still pending.
“About the only thing she is saying that is truthful is that she filed a lawsuit,” Ford said. “Any suggestion that Don Hunt left his position because of any concerns about his performance is absolutely baseless.”
Staff writers David Migoya and Aldo Svaldi contributed to this report.
