County approves annual road system report tied to transportation funding

Commissioners approved Mesa County’s 2025 Highway Users Tax Fund report to the Colorado Department of Transportation during a public hearing Jan. 27.

The report is submitted to the state each year and documents changes to Mesa County’s road system, including how many miles of road the county maintains and how that system has grown or changed over time.

The Highway Users Tax Fund, often called HUTF, distributes state transportation dollars generated primarily through fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. Mesa County uses those funds for routine road maintenance, including pothole repairs, crack sealing, chip sealing, slurry sealing, grading unpaved roads and maintaining guardrails.

“This report shows all of the roads we maintain — paved and unpaved — and helps determine the funding we receive to take care of them,” said Travis Cole, deputy road supervisor with Mesa County Road and Bridge, during the public hearing.

What the 2025 report shows

As of 2025, Mesa County maintains:

• 1,441.845 center-line miles of HUTF-eligible roads
  • 726.773 miles paved
  • 715.072 miles unpaved

When measured by lane miles — which account for the total number of traffic lanes — the county maintains approximately 2,919.945 lane miles. Lane miles are the measure used by the Mesa County Division of Transportation for maintenance planning.

The report also documents how the system changed from the prior year, including:

• 18 mapping updates to improve geographic information system data
  • 10 new segments created to reflect the roundabout at 32 1/2 Road and E Road
  • 8 updates tied to routine data cleanup
• 18 road segments chip sealed in East Orchard Mesa and Whitewater, totaling 23.21 miles
• 37 road segments slurry sealed, totaling 4.1 miles
• 108 road segments cape sealed, totaling 15.27 miles
• 17 additional segment changes to better track capital improvement projects

Overall, Mesa County’s maintained road network grew by 2.111 miles compared with the 2024 report.

During the hearing, Commissioners noted that while maintenance costs have increased, HUTF revenues have not kept pace.

As a result, Mesa County has shifted toward preservation strategies — such as chip seal, slurry seal and cape seal — to extend the life of existing roads rather than relying solely on full repaving.

“Our goal is to make these dollars go as far as possible and preserve the roads we already have,” Cole said.

The approved report will now be submitted to the state as part of Colorado’s annual transportation funding process.