Highway contractors, sharpen your pencils. A truckload of construction money is about to hit the streets.

Backed by its portion of $403 million in highway stimulus dollars, the Colorado Department of Transportation is poised to solicit bids for dozens of projects since much of the money has to be spent by mid-July.

That's because the stimulus program says states must commit at least half their share within four months or lose it to other states that hit that mark. The Federal Highway Administration expects to deliver the stimulus money by March 10, starting a 120-day clock.

CDOT's share is $270.6 million; the rest goes to transportation planning agencies in metro areas and rural Colorado. So CDOT has to get $135.3 million out the door quickly. The rest must be spent within a year.

On Wednesday, the state transportation commission reviewed a list of 47 shovel-ready projects recommended by the agency's staff and was satisfied they meet the deadlines.

"It is really critical that we get more than 50 percent committed within that 120 days," Karla Petty, division administrator in Denver for the Federal Highway Administration, told CDOT.

CDOT's first advertisements soliciting bids for highway work are expected to hit the newspapers March 12, two days after the money is delivered. Funds are considered "committed" when CDOT publishes the advertisements.

The CDOT projects range from half-million-dollar traffic signal jobs to multimillion-dollar interstate highway renovations. Nineteen projects are in metro Denver.

With transportation funding down the past few years and the recession on top of that, contractors are eager to secure work, said Pam Hutton, CDOT's chief engineer.

"Right now, we're seeing extremely good bids because the contractors are hungry and their summer schedules aren't full," she said. That could change as work piles up quickly.

If bids come in lower than estimates, CDOT will scramble to pull in other projects and use the savings for those.

"We're keeping the entire list out there, knowing there may have to be some substitutions," said Jennifer Finch, CDOT's director of transportation development.

The rest of Colorado's highway stimulus money flows to local transportation planning regions. Metro Denver is in line for $55.9 million, Colorado Springs for $13.1 million and Fort Collins-Greeley-Loveland for $5.8 million. They have one year to spend all of it or lose it.

In addition to $403 million for highways, the state is getting $103 million for transit projects. The stimulus program also sets aside $1.5 billion for which states can compete. Any project ranging from $20 million to $300 million is eligible. The rules for that program will be published within three months, and CDOT will go through its list of projects to select candidates.

Overseeing Colorado's share of stimulus program

* Gov. Bill Ritter set up a statewide board Wednesday to assure accountability and oversight of Colorado's anticipated $2 billion-plus share of President Barack Obama's stimulus program.

* Headed by Don Elliman, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development, the board includes representatives from the public and private sectors. It has set up a Web site at colorado.gov/recovery for citizens to monitor the funds.

* The members are State Treasurer Cary Kennedy; Secretary of State Bernie Buescher; Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge, chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee; Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, Joint Budget Committee member; Ray Baker, of Gold Crown Cos.; Reeves Brown, executive director of Club 20; Taryn Edwards, president of Associated General Contractors of Colorado; Robert Gibson, deputy director of Colorado WINS; Sandy Gutierrez, president/CEO of the Pueblo Latino Chamber of Commerce; Tony Hernandez, director of the Division of Local Government in the state Department of Local Affairs; Andre Pettigrew, director of the Denver Office of Economic Development; and Richard Truly, former director of NREL and former administrator of NASA.