The trip between Denver and Colorado Springs will get easier and quicker, thanks to tolls the state will add between Monument and Castle Rock.

Drivers may have forgotten how the once-dreaded trips between Denver and the Springs could take hours. Congestion has been considerably less since the new north and south lanes went in along I-25’s notorious 18 miles of “The Gap.” Motorists used the lanes toll free while the state prepared to start charging.

The widening of I-25, completed in November, came just in time for the early stages of Colorado’s transition into the public-private aerospace technology hub of the United States. President Joe Biden’s decision to keep Space Command in Colorado led to a spate of aerospace companies moving or expanding here, a trend likely to continue.

Pricey transportation projects pave the way for more industry, commerce and jobs. National Geographic explains how the United States economy – the world’s largest – grew because of roads.

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“These expanded transport links laid the foundation of a bustling nationwide economy of commercial agriculture and industry,” says a National Geographic transportation textbook.

Traffic jams cost money and lives. When thousands sit idle on pavement, our economy loses millions in production and consumption. Aside from the danger of bumper-to-bumper traffic, consider the person fighting for life in an ambulance stuck on I-25. Consider the person not saved by a doctor stuck on the road.

As the state’s major north-south thoroughfare, I-25 should move people – not trap them. As our wider I-25 invites and facilitates more travel, snarls will increase. That’s why we need managed access for each new lane.

In all transactions, pricing is a valve. When a price goes up, it necessarily slows the outflow of associated goods, services and commodities. As a price goes down for anything in demand, the outflow goes up. That’s why the price of lumber, gasoline, electricity, homes, bubble gum, haircuts, medicine – whatever it may be – goes up and down with supply and demand.

Access to the new I-25 lanes will be managed by price – just like entrance to a Taylor Swift concert. 

Most people would see top-tier concerts if they were free, just as they take open traffic lanes without much thought. Admission fees force each consumer to contemplate a question: Do I prefer the money or the access?

We’ve heard how toll lanes disproportionately burden the poor. That amounts to decrying poverty in general. Gasoline and food prices hurt the poor. At least in this equation, two-thirds of the lanes are free. That means toll lanes likely benefit the poor. Each paying vehicle is one no longer competing in the toll-free lanes. Those who pay the toll benefit those who do not, much like first-class flyers subsidize prices in coach.

Someone having a medical crisis should take a toll lane and pay – or not. If it is a true emergency, and the driver can’t pay, take a lane and challenge the toll. At least a lane is moving. Late for a meeting? Late for a plane? Consider the toll versus the cost of being late and choose. Without the toll, we have no such choice. 

The state wants one toll lane in each direction that ensures speeds of at least 45 miles an hour for those able and willing to pay. As traffic ebbs and flows throughout the day, prices will climb and fall. The price will fluctuate based on demand.

Flexible pricing will make I-25 safer and more efficient. Take joy in paying the tolls – or not. It is the state’s best way to value our time.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board