RTD directors and Colorado Transportation Commission members met Tuesday to resolve a dispute that has threatened selection of the final route for the west light-rail line to Golden from Denver.
Last month, Colorado Department of Transportation chief Tom Norton said his agency would transfer land to RTD for the train on the north side of U.S. 6 from Simms Street in Lakewood west to the Jefferson County government center in Golden.
But CDOT only would do so if RTD pledged to return an equivalent amount of land to the state if it is needed for highway improvements in the same corridor at any point over the next 50 years, Norton said.
Cal Marsella, general manager of the Regional Transportation District, said his agency could never accept the 50-year commitment because it would subject RTD to a financial liability totaling billions of dollars.
Tuesday’s meeting between RTD’s elected directors and transportation commission members who are appointed by Gov. Bill Owens helped bridge the dispute, said commission chairman Greg McKnight of Greenwood Village.
“We made progress; cooler heads will prevail,” McKnight said.
“We understand that they can’t be on the hook forever,” he said, referring to RTD’s concern about a 50-year commitment, “and they understand that we can’t just give away right of way.”
RTD board chairman Bill Elfenbein led his agency’s delegation in the session with transportation commissioners and, echoing McKnight, said “we had a very fruitful meeting.”
RTD is hopeful that the dispute can be quickly resolved, possibly in time for the transportation commission’s monthly meeting next week, Elfenbein said.
The transit agency has begun final design of the 12.1-mile, $508 million west rail line and officials have said they need to settle on the route for the train.
One possible resolution of the dispute with CDOT might be for RTD to cover all or a portion of the cost of acquiring land for future highway construction in the U.S. 6 corridor, but only if the road improvements are included in regional transportation plans, which typically look ahead 25 or 30 years – not 50 years.
The west corridor is the first of six rail lines that will be built as part of RTD’s $4.7 billion FasTracks expansion.
Current plans call for west rail construction to start in late 2008 and for the line to open in late 2013.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
