Very expensive dream indeed.when do we get our money back.DP
Letters: Proselytizing; FasTracks; United Airlines vaccine mandate – Longmont
Times-Call
Rail to Longmont was nice, expensive dream
Not long ago Mr. Bob Norris here provided his urge for City Council to be
deliberate and circumspect in pushing for commuter rail service. Over time I’ve
tended to support Mr. Norris’s views. Personally, I’d like to see rail service
to any place having a population of at least 50,000. I used RTD Light Rail in
Denver and other cities, and it can’t be beat. Back to the ’40s? You bet. We
were different, simpler, and better then.
Mr. Norris seems to overlook this: Assuming EVs and auto-drive (eyes wide
shut!) cars come to the roads, traffic congestion will be at best be as
problematic as it is now. One reason for trains is to reduce vehicular traffic.
Road maintenance won’t become cheaper as time goes by, either.
I get it that Americans are loath to do much of anything in groups. From cold,
dead hands might one try to pry the car keys. But think how nice it can be
riding the rails in relative comfort, putting your feet on someone else’s
upholstery.
All this is likely academic in any case. Passenger rail service is never coming
to Longmont. I worked on the “T-Rex” project to get light rail committed and
built in the southeast Denver Metro, and the political density out here is just
not thick, strong, or bold enough. It was a very nice and very expensive dream,
however.
Now, to get our $67 million-plus back. Lawyers at 20 paces?
Gregory Iwan
Longmont
