When FasTracks rolls out the bridge that will span West 6th Avenue on the west side of the Federal Center, it will do so literally, closing down a stretch of the heavily traveled highway for two days.
And the Regional Transportation District plans to make the snail’s pace placement of the bridge a spectator event.

Vehicle registrations in Colorado took a slight drop in January compared with three months earlier – a statistic that’s in line with coming up short on revenue in the FASTER program – and trailer registrations account for 30 percent of the decline. State figures for total registrations showed 5,067,035 license plates registered in Colorado as of Jan. 31. That is 37,056 fewer than were registered three months earlier, as of Oct. 31.

You’re going to be seeing a new style of shuttle bus on the 16th Street Mall come next spring. Faced with the need to replace the current fleet of mall shuttles as well as having to add to their numbers because of the FasTracks program’s extension of the mall for three more blocks, RTD has approved a contract with a Charlotte, N.C., bus manufacturer for two prototypes and an option for up to 57 more if they work out.

The low bidder on the first bridge replacement project funded by the FASTER bill’s increase in vehicle registration fees was the one closest to the job. Walsenburg Sand and Gravel Co. bid $1,837,111 to replace the bridge over Turkey Creek on CO 69 near Farisita. The project includes realignment of a half mile of the highway at the bridge. Walsenburg and Farisita are both in Huerfano County.

RTD is moving closer to collecting bus and light rail fares through pre-paid smart cards with a $15.35 million contract to ACS Transport Solutions Inc. to provide the cards, readers, base data processing equipment and wireless communications.

The North Metro commuter rail corridor through the heart of Adams County will be proposed as a single-track line but with five strategically placed double-tracked segments that will allow RTD to slash costs while retaining the capability for 15-minute service on this FasTracks corridor.

RTD has reached a total $143.8 million agreement with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway that will move progress forward on two FasTracks corridors to Arvada/Wheat Ridge and Westminster.

Denver International Airport can become a global hub, its manager Kim Day says, because the people who planned it made sure it had plenty of room to grow at lower cost than its competitors. DIA already is the 10th busiest airport in the world but its international service is lagging. Day outlined five factors she believes will contribute to the emergence of DIA as a global hub.

A federal judge in Denver has denied a request from Colorail, a rail transit advocacy group, to stop RTD’s construction work at Denver Union Station while the group appeals to have the design study redone.

The Senate gave final approval Wednesday morning to a bill known as the “HIRE Act” containing seven transportation provisions including an extension of authorization for federal highway and transit programs through Dec. 31 as well as providing $19.5 billion to the Highway Trust Fund. Today’s vote to concur with House amendments sends the legislation to President Barack Obama.