COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- El Paso County voters approved an extension of the sales tax put in place to support the PPRTA, so where is that money going to go?

Since 2004 the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority has been fixing our roadways in disrepair and adding better interchanges to make your travels around town a little less stressful.

El Paso County voters approved an extension of the sales tax put in place to support the PPRTA.
The original 2004 tax was set to expire in 2014, and will now sunset in December of 2024.

From a 0.55% tax, municipalities representing El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Green Mountain Falls and Ramah will collect $28 million dollars per year in revenue.
City Transportation Manager Kathleen Krager is the organizer of a long list of nearly 150 projects planned for the next decade.

"We're gonna be doing a lot of reconstruction projects that we did not do in the first 10 years of PPRTA," Krager explained, "We have 13 bridges in the city that are aging, they are falling apart and need to be reconstructed."

Those bridge reconstructions fall under just one of three categories of projects on the list.
They're broken down into:
- "Taking Care Of What We've Got", which are reconstruction projects such as rebuilding the Circle Drive bridges crossing Fountain Creek
- "Saving Lives And Saving Time", targets increased safety and reduced congestion, such as realigning Hancock Expressway from Clarendon to Chelton
- "More Ways To Get There", adds pedestrian and bike options near schools and neighborhoods around the area.

Krager said the PPRTA is the only one of it's kind in the state, and is paving the way for other cities to improve their roads, too.
"Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region has actually become an example to other jurisdictions in the state on how to be cooperative and get regional transportation projects done," she explained, "Other jurisdictions look at us and go, "Gee, I wish we could get our voters to pass the same thing."