A measure that would dedicate all transportation-related revenue to Colorado’s roads and bridges has officially qualified for the November ballot after it cleared the state’s signature threshold, according to election officials.

Backed by the coalition Restore Our Roads, Initiative No. 175 would require that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively for building and repairing roads and bridges, improving safety, conducting transportation planning and engineering and supporting Colorado State Patrol operations.

Proponents of the measure submitted about 189,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office for review last month. About 143,000 of those signatures were declared valid, surpassing the required threshold of 124,000.

Late in the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers introduced a bill to effectively nullify the initiative by reducing excise taxes on fuel, certain registration fees and road usage fees from 2027 to 2030, should voters pass the road funding measure.

The legislative response also establishes an enterprise — a government-owned business — to hold funds intended for road maintenance. Enterprises are exempt from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue limits. It would only apply if voters approved Initiative No. 175.

The bill’s sponsors argued that the initiative would divert more than $700 million in state funds from areas and agencies like K-12 and higher education, health care and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

“Nobody would argue that we need to better fund roads in our state,” bill sponsor Speaker Pro Tempore Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, told Colorado Politics earlier. “However, if you’re going to propose that the voters are being asked to do this for the price of nothing, of course, the voters are going to say yes.”

“But if you ask, ‘What if it may close the hospital?’ That’s a very big question,” Boesenecker said.

Supporters of the initiative have argued that state policymakers have effectively hijacked road funding for other transportation spending.

The bill was signed into law with a provision setting a June 15 deadline for legislators and Restore Our Roads to reach a consensus on what to do about the initiative.

A few days before that deadline, the coalition announced it had declined lawmakers’ request to withdraw the measure but said they are willing to continue discussions to find a mutual solution.

“Road transportation money should fund roads, and Initiative 175 finally does that — without raising taxes,” Tony Milo, president and CEO of the Colorado Contractors Association, earlier said. “It’s unfortunate Gov. Polis is forcing Coloradans to wait three more years to fix the roads, but in the meantime, they will get a much-needed break at the pump and, over the long haul, safer, better-maintained roads.”

He said the initiative’s backers are willing to work toward a compromise. The goal, he emphasized, is to secure funding to fix the state’s roads, improve safety, boost quality of life and help attract businesses and jobs.

Milo added that they share the broader interest in maintaining strong education and health care systems and don’t want to undermine those services, but, he argued, the state still needs to address its transportation needs.

In a joint statement released by the House and Senate Democrats, lawmakers said they had made “several good-faith efforts” to reach a compromise with Restore Our Roads, including proposals to create a working group to address road funding and establish a new $7.5 million enterprise, but that they all were rejected.

Should any kind of compromise come to fruition, Restore Our Roads has until Sept. 3 to withdraw the initiative.