FORT COLLINS — A long-awaited project that will introduce the Front Range’s first bus rapid transit system got a huge boost this morning with the presentation of a $54 million Federal Transit Administration grant to the city.
The grant covers a big chunk of the planned $87 million re-vamp of the Mason Street corridor, a major north-south connector in Fort Collins.
Work will start immediately to convert Mason Street to two-way traffic.
By 2014, say officials, residents and Colorado State University students will be able to travel to the south end of town from the the intersection of Mason and LaPorte Avenue on the north end of Fort Collins in less than 20 minutes on energy-efficient buses.
People will also be able to ride a bike or jog the same corridor thanks to an underpass at Troutman and overpass near the city’s Spring Creek Trail.
Today’s funding announcement caps a decade-long effort to re-do Mason Street to add transit options and to jump-start economic development in the cooridor, said Fort Collins City Manager Darin Atteberry.
“This is a game-changer for Fort Collins,” Atteberry said. “This is not just a bus corridor, that is a legacy project for generations of residents.”
The bus service will allow families to spend less time in traffic and cut what they have to pay at the pump, officials said.
The project is backed by CSU which will promote it as way for students to cut back on their own driving. “There are about 6,000 students staying on campus and about half of them have cars,” said CSU vice president for operations Amy Parsons. “We will be encouraging them to leave their cars are home.”
Crews will begin closing segments of Mason starting in June and parking will be limited from June until mid-July, officials said.
