Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper on Tuesday assured local government and business officials from the north metro area that the goal of building all of FasTracks — including trains to their communities — remains alive.
In 2004, Hickenlooper led the unified effort of all metro-area mayors to get voter approval for the initial 0.4 percent Regional Transportation District sales tax for FasTracks.
Since then, higher construction costs and much-lower-than-expected sales-tax collections have threatened to leave some communities, especially those in the north area, in danger of not getting their promised FasTracks lines.
About a dozen members of the North Area Transportation Alliance, including representatives from Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Erie, Frederick, Longmont, Thornton and Westminster, met with Hickenlooper in his office Tuesday and made a pitch for continued unity, especially in seeking additional federal money for FasTracks.
Of the solid regional cooperation that was forged in 2004 for FasTracks, Commerce City Mayor Paul Natale said: “I’m watching it start to fracture a little. We can’t let it fracture. If it does, we lose everything.”
Has FasTracks suffered from “overly optimistic” financial forecasts? Hickenlooper asked. “Sure, I’ll accept a certain amount of responsibility for that.”
But there is “100 percent resolve” to complete FasTracks, Hickenlooper said, adding that the mayors collectively planned their “vision for the region” and they must not let up until it is realized.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
