Gov. Bill Owens has vetoed two efforts to either halt or hinder a proposed 210-mile private toll road on the plains of Colorado’s Front Range.

Instead, Owens encouraged lawmakers to study the issue as their summer project.

One bill would have effectively killed the privately financed project – dubbed the “Super Slab.” SB230 would have denied developer Ray Wells the ability to condemn and take over private land for the toll road.

The other bill – HB1342 – would have required corporations to notify all landowners whose property might be affected. It also required approval from the commissioners in all seven counties where the road passes, among other things, the Rocky Mountain News reported.

Backers of the plan for a high-speed bypass running north of Fort Collins to the south of Pueblo have identified a 12-mile-wide swath where the highway might go, involving thousands of property owners.

Owens said in his veto letter to lawmakers that both bills are “far too broad and sweeping” in their effort to control how land can be acquired for building private roadways.

“Private investment in Colorado’s transportation infrastructure is needed now more than ever,” he said.

The governor said funding for the state Transportation Department next year is expected to be 40 percent below what it was in 2002.

“It’s disappointing to me to see the governor abandon his long-standing concern for private-property rights,” Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, told the Denver Post.

Wiens said he would reintroduce the bill next year.