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<br />oaO~5~ <br /> <br />-19- <br /> <br />intends to finish the Interstate System with funds available.} The Highway <br />Commission has already committed $8.5 million of the $40.8 million as a part of <br />its 1980-1984 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan leaving $32.3 million worth of <br />needs unfunded at this time. <br /> <br />The table below summarizes the costs of transportation facilities needed <br />in Regions 10,11 and 12 as well as statewide under the high scenario. Please <br />note that the table does not include the cost of completing the Interstate <br />Highway System in energy development areas. <br /> <br />SUMMARY OF HIGH SCENARIO TRANSPORTATION NEEDS <br /> <br />Transportation Facility <br /> <br />Reqions 10,11,12 <br /> <br />Statewide <br /> <br />Coal Haul Roads <br />(Improvements and Main- <br />tenance) <br /> <br />$100.3 million <br /> <br />$176.4 million <br /> <br />Highway Improvements <br />associated with Oil <br />Shale Development* <br /> <br />$ 40.8 million <br /> <br />$ 40.8 million <br /> <br />Highway-Railroad Crossings <br />Improvements and New Rail <br />Bypasses <br /> <br />$ 30.0 million <br /> <br />$640.2 million <br /> <br />Total <br /> <br />$171.1 million <br /> <br />$857.4 million <br /> <br />*Identified by Draft Colorado West Transportation Plan <br /> <br />Emo10vment Impacts <br /> <br />The Division of Employment and Training has i.dentified the potential <br />problem of insufficient labor force availability for skilled construction <br />trade workers under the high scenario during the. early 1980s. This short- <br />age of skilled workers would clearly drive up the cost of labor and create <br />periodic shortages. -1hey-est!ma e that over the four-year period 1980- <br />1983, appraxima~21,000 add- iona1 construction workers would be needed <br />to meet projected en opment in the northwest portion of Colorado. <br />This increase would peak witb more than 7,500 required in 1982 alone. <br />The competition from other states in the region for skilled workers to <br />man energy projects would complicate matters. In both 1987 and 1988 over <br />2,000 construction jobs would be lost due to scale-down construction, <br />thus providing a negative impact on various communities. Finally, with <br />scheduled build-up under the high scenario beginning in 1980, the lack of <br />required infrastructure would provide numerous hardships to the initial <br />work force. <br /> <br />In the spec:ific cases of oil shale production and coal gasification, <br />the sources of a significant portion of the employment :1mpacts identified, <br />the longer term financial viability of this extraction/conversion methodo- <br />logy is questioned. The boom and bust impact of varying construction <br />levels on the communities and the employees involved is a signficant <br />social problem for energy technologies which remains unsolved. <br />