An effort to siphon some of the FASTER dollars meant to repair Colorado’s transportation system for streetcars on Colfax Avenue is premature and ought to be shelved.
Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, wants to bring some FASTER money to his district, but he submitted a bill Monday without doing his homework. We hope the well-intentioned senator pulls the legislation and considers presenting it at a later date, possibly next session.
Considering some key Republicans want to repeal FASTER, Romer’s bill could prove a dangerous distraction.
Romer’s plan is to take a portion of the vehicle registration fees of those who live within a mile of Colfax and create a special district. Voters in the 10-mile corridor would have to approve such a scheme. If they did, the FASTER money could help back a public-private partnership to operate the trolleys.
The goal would be to seek federal grants and arrange a financing package that allows Denver to largely replace buses on Colfax in favor of streetcars. Romer believes that the public prefers streetcars to buses, and that streetcars in the corridor would spur private investment, create jobs and revitalize Colfax.
While all of that sounds good, there are many obstacles standing in the way of such a plan.
For one, it isn’t clear that streetcars would work there. Denver’s Department of Public Works is studying the feasibility of streetcars for the corridor, and plans to complete that study by July.
That’s far too late to apply for the federal grant Romer wants to secure. The senator says he wants Denver to compete for $25 million from the Obama administration’s so-called Livability Initiative. The deadline for that application is Feb. 8 — next week.
Meanwhile, without knowing whether streetcars could feasibly replace buses on Colfax, it would be irresponsible for Denver to start creating a special taxing district and committing some of its FASTER money toward streetcars when other improvements might be more needed.
Though Romer has talked to Denver City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb about his plan for the district, he hasn’t talked with Public Works. Crissy Fanganello, the department’s director of policy and planning, says much work has to be done before the city can reasonably weigh in.
The first phase of a streetcar development could cost upwards of $120 million, Fanganello said, and wouldn’t run the full 10 miles. Even if Romer could couple FASTER money with grant money, it would account for only 30 percent of the up-front cost.
When legislators last year pushed FASTER as the solution for the state’s serious transportation needs, much was made of the nearly 130 bridges deemed structurally deficient in Colorado. Now we see that FASTER, which is expected to raise just over $200 million this year, will only dedicate $50 million to fixing those bridges.
Opponents trying to repeal the increased registration fees could rightly attack Romer’s streetcars as they ridicule the FASTER program. Had his legislation been thought through, such criticisms could be answered.
Romer should pull his streetcar measure for another day.
