New president, new governor, new RTD manager, old complaint.
Boulder and Longmont got shorted on FasTracks. They wanted a train in
return for their voting talents and got only an express bus that doesn't
even go to Longmont.
Politicians and activists are some PO'd about RTD's broken promise and want
their electric train yesterday if not sooner.
Governor Jared Polis is from Boulder County. He is *simpatico*.
But he's more of a realist, expecting the financial geniuses at RTD to use
their "stimulus money" to get the train running in four year rather than
twenty-four.
Seldom mentioned in these infrequent articles is a major obstacle in the
way to finishing the NW Corridor train to Boulder: BNSF freight trains must
also use those tracks. RTD passenger trains would run on limited
schedules, within narrow time windows, generally early morning and late
afternoon.
News writers tend to overlook those prickly details, as do passenger train
advocates in their zeal to have them running on routes that don’t pay for
themselves.
Dave Bishop
https://denvergazette.com/news/local/polis-to-rtd-build-boulder-rail-line-by-2025/article_d107b9a2-5817-57c9-9814-248b46cf5515.html?utm_source=L2_Voters&utm_medium=deployer&utm_campaign=1036&utm_content=20210125230347
Polis to RTD: Build Boulder rail line by 2025
- By MICHAEL KARLIK michael.karlik@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<https://denvergazette.com/content/tncms/live/profile/MKarlik>
- Jan 25, 2021 Updated 2 hrs ago
Gov. Jared Polis is asking the Regional Transportation District to “move
quickly” on construction of a commuter rail line to Boulder, and not
backpedal on the project.
“I was extremely concerned when, at a recent event, it was reported that
you questioned whether an extension of the B Line from Westminster to
Longmont is the best option for the region,” Polis wrote
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VErIj4pgnZpjZ6BdhhIJ03rZKml7mUAX/view> to
Debra A. Johnson, the agency’s general manager, on Friday. “RTD was trusted
in 2004 with additional taxpayer funds for the explicit purpose of building
out FasTracks which included NW Rail.”
CPR reported
<https://www.cpr.org/2021/01/22/polis-extremely-concerned-by-rtd-leaders-questioning-of-boulder-train/>
that
Johnson told a transportation group in Boulder that RTD had to “keep in
mind what might be more viable” than a rail line. The rail segment from
Denver to Boulder was a component of the voter-approved 2004 FasTracks plan
that built out much of the current rail system around mero Denver.
Polis, a resident of Boulder County who represented the area as a
congressman, has been an advocate for constructing the Northwest Rail Line,
and told Johnson in his recent letter that he would like to see completion
by 2025.
“Please keep this priority in mind, particularly, as the District evaluates
how to spend significant additional dollars that have been unexpectedly
provided directly to RTD via federal stimulus payments,” he continued. RTD
has announced it will likely use money from a year-end federal relief bill
<https://www.rtd-denver.com/news-stop/news/rtd-makes-final-reductions-workforce-week-to-address-financial-impacts-of-pandemic>
to
rescind some of its planned layoffs.
One member of RTD’s board of directors publicly criticized the governor for
trying to influence the agency’s priorities.
“What he is saying here is bankrupt the agency so that Boulder can have a
train,” wrote Director Shontel Lewis, District B, on Facebook. She
acknowledged the dissatisfaction of those who felt RTD had broken a
promise, but said her concern lay not with those who “simply want what
others have.”
“To send this letter, during a global pandemic, as we [make] hard decisions
to prioritize the wellbeing of staff and provide transit to our communities
is so out of touch,” Lewis added.
