Mayors from communities that may get shortened FasTracks train lines grilled RTD officials Monday over the inequity of completing some lines while truncating others.
The Regional Transportation District said it will spend $4.5 billion of the $5.8 billion in FasTracks money it expects to have on the completion of trains to Golden, Arvada-Wheat Ridge and Denver International Airport as well as other core elements of the transit program.
That leaves $1.3 billion to spread among lines planned between Union Station and Boulder-Longmont and Thornton-Northglenn, and through Aurora’s Interstate 225 corridor.
At a meeting of a Metro Mayors Caucus committee that is reviewing FasTracks funding, some mayors criticized RTD’s assumption that 77 percent of project funds already are committed, leaving them leftovers to build shortened rail lines unless new money can be found.
RTD said it needs a total of $7.9 billion to finish all FasTracks lines by 2017, as originally planned.
The mayors’ group needs to re-examine RTD’s decision to commit $4.5 billion of FasTracks funding to select corridors while asking others to somehow equitably divvy up the remaining $1.3 billion, said Thornton Mayor Erik Hansen.
“There are too many sacred cows in this room for us to be effective,” said Hansen, whose city might only get a North Metro train line running about half its original planned distance.
At Monday’s meeting, RTD planning chief Bill Van Meter reiterated his agency’s position that the West corridor train to Golden, the East corridor train to DIA and the Gold Line to Wheat Ridge must stay on schedule for full completion because they are in line to get a total of $1.3 billion in Federal Transit Administration money.
Broomfield Mayor Pat Quinn and Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer, whose communities also face getting shortened rail lines, questioned if RTD — by fully funding $4.5 billion of the project and shortchanging other rail lines — is living up to an earlier pledge that said modifications to FasTracks must “affect all corridors equally.”
Hansen echoed that concern. “If there has to be some kind of cuts, everyone has to feel some kind of pain,” he said.
The mayors’ caucus is expected to submit its views on FasTracks equity early in the new year.
RTD officials on Monday said they’ve asked for a new federal stimulus package to include $1 billion for the DIA and Gold Line trains as well as money for Union Station.
Also Monday, a national meeting on transportation finance in Broomfield reviewed opportunities for public-private partnerships, or PPPs, to help complete large highway and transit projects.
RTD has three private consortiums bidding to finance, build and operate the DIA and Gold lines. RTD hopes the winner will contribute at least $1 billion in private financing.
Steven Klein, of the private investment firm First Infrastructure, said capital markets remain “chaotic, almost paralyzed” and now might not be the best time for RTD’s private partners to be raising money for FasTracks.
The financing picture might improve “a year or two out, when the dust settles,” Klein added. RTD expects to select a PPP partner by late next year or early 2010.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
