Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff announces $304 million in loans to renovate Denver Union Station and $120 million in grants for three FasTracks rail corridors. Seated to the left are Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Sen. Michael Bennet and RTD General Manager Phil Washington.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

FasTracks’ federal funding picture came into sharper focus today as the Federal Transit Administration announced it will provide the sought-after $304 million in loans toward the conversion of Denver Union Station into a regional commuter rail hub.

FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff, who traveled to Denver for the announcement, also said that by including $80 million in grants to the two commuter rail corridors to Denver International Airport and Arvada-Wheat Ridge in President Obama’s proposed 2011 budget, the feds are sending a clear signal that they intend to sign agreements with RTD, likely next year, to provide New Starts grants for the East Corridor and Gold Line commuter rail projects.

“That translates into a federal commitment to provide over a billion dollars for FasTracks,” Rogoff said to a crowd of about 200 people at the Union Station transit platform. “You put that together with the Union Station loans and they represent thousands of jobs.

“These dollars are an initial downpayment on those projects,” Rogoff said. “The most important part of Monday’s announcement is that the Obama Administration committed itself to signing a Full Funding Grant Agreement for both of these projects.

“Make no mistake about it, the discussion is over. Union Station is going to happen. It’s at the center of what President Obama is talking about when he talks about economic recovery,” Rogoff said.

Transit advocates who have been planning for the day that the historic train station would be reborn were ecstatic.

“This is a historic day in the history of Colorado,” said Dana Crawford, the developer who helped pioneer the rebirth of lower downtown. Reactivation of the station as part of FasTracks is expected to spur the growth of the Central Platte Valley.

One by one, question marks that surround RTD’s FasTracks rapid transit program are being turned into exclamation points as these key targets in the beleaguered financing plan are reached. The grants and loans Rogoff announced Friday are not new money for FasTracks – the amounts already had been plugged into the financial plan – but by committing to those amounts, Rogoff eliminates a few more of the unknowns.

The announcement provides some relief for local officials who have been concerned about RTD’s ability to nail down the remaining unsettled pieces of the budget.

“FasTracks is laying a foundation for our future,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, who addressed the audience. “It’s about jobs, it’s about people. It’s projects like this that give us hope that we are going to fulfill the legacy of our parents and grandparents – to create more, not less, opportunity for generations of Coloradans to come.”

RTD General Manager Phil Washington, left, rides the C Line light rail to the 10th and Osage station after the announcement to tour a senior housing site with FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff and Denver Housing Authority Executive Director Ismael Guerrero.

RTD still faces a $2.45 billion shortage in funds to complete the $6.5 billion project by 2017. It is going through budget-cutting proposals before finalizing project scope and deciding whether to approach voters for a second sales tax increase to get the other new corridor, serving Aurora, Adams County, Boulder and Longmont, back on track.

Rogoff said transportation investments such as FasTracks are not short-term make-work projects.

“They are investments in a better life for the people of this region,” he said. Robust transit systems help to drive business decisions to locate where reliable transportation for workers, goods and services is available.

Mayor John Hickenlooper added to that when he spoke to the crowd.

“I think this will be one of the pillars of economic development in our community for many years to come,” he said.

RTD General Manager Phil Washington said the agency is fully focused on finding a way to get the entire system built out.

“We will not miss a deadline, we will be good stewards of the public’s money,” he said. “We’re going to make this real and we’re going to build this project.

The total project cost for Union Station’s reconstruction is $479.4 million. The loans for Union Station come through two programs.

One loan is through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which provides credit assistance for surface transportation projects of national and regional significance. The TIFIA loan is for $151.6 million.

The second loan, for $152.1 million, comes through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program, which gives direct loans and guarantees for development of railroad infrastructure.

RTD is allocating $200 million in FasTracks funding to the Union Station renovation. The loans are to be repaid through the increase in taxes generated by private development on the site. The project is being carried out by the Denver Union Station Project Authority, and just last week the Denver City Council agreed to assume a “moral obligation” to be a final backstop for the loans through the city general fund – a controversial move that helped seal the feds’ deal.

The grants that Rogoff announced — $40 million to the East Corridor and $40 million to the Gold Line – help to keep those two on course. They are packaged into a privatization proposal called Eagle P3, through which RTD hopes to offload a substantial part of its upfront capital construction costs in exchange for a 40-year concession with a private consortium that will finance, design, build, operate and maintain those two lines and a maintenance facility for the heavy-rail vehicles they will use.

Two international teams of interested bidders are preparing their proposals and RTD expects to select a winning team in June. The privatization move, backed by the federal government as a demonstration of the benefits of public-private transit projects, is part of RTD’s strategy for closing its FasTracks budget gap.

Rogoff also formally announced that the 2011 budget includes the next $40 million annual installment on the FasTracks New Starts full-funding agreement for the West Corridor light rail already under construction in Denver, Lakewood and Golden.

The West Corridor is one of the light rail lines designed to terminate at Union Station – along with the C and E lines from the southwest and southeast corridors. RTD’s design for the transfers between the light rail and heavy-rail commuter trains remains controversial and the subject of a lawsuit by transit advocates who oppose the current design. Some of them attended the announcement, happy to see the federal government committing funds to the project but still working for a change.

RTD is planning to relocate the current light rail platform about two and a half blocks north, adjacent to the freight tracks. Connecting them will be an underground bus transfer station and a ground-level plaza. Some transit advocates say this degrades the intent of convenient transfers.

“If a train station isn’t designed for the convenience of passengers, what is it for?” said Edie Bryan, a former RTD board member and now a member of ColoRail, which is suing over the issue.

Memo to gubernatorial candidates: If you’re coming to talk at a convention of Colorado road builders, expect to be asked what you would do to address the crisis in funding transportation improvements.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Democratic candidate for governor, and former Congressman Scott McInnis, seeking the Republican nomination, appeared separately at the convention of the Colorado Contractors Association. During Q and A sessions following their talks, each one missed opportunities to lay out specifics about what they would do for transportation funding.

Nevertheless, both Hickenlooper and McInnis told the contractors and engineers in the audience at the downtown Denver Marriot City Center that the straightforward solution to providing a stable, predictable and reliable funding stream to transportation infrastructure is simply to put together your best package of taxes, fees or other revenue measures to accomplish the mission, and then make the case to voters that it’s all necessary.

John Hickenlooper

The mayor said he wasn’t ready to commit to that, however.

Instead, Hickenlooper said the ultimate answer is to take your case to voters. If officials can show voters exactly what they’re going to build and why it needs to be built, it makes for a better and more publicly accepted program.

“What makes more sense is to go to voters,” Hickenlooper said.

McInnis followed Hickenlooper by more than an hour; CCA wanted to have the two together but their schedules didn’t mesh. McInnis’ take on FASTER was more direct – it caused “intense animosity” among the public and was done the wrong way.

“The problem with FASTER isn’t the intent or the structure of it, it’s the fact that you didn’t go to the people in those 64 counties and explain it,” McInnis said.

Scott McInnis

He said he had no specifics, because “I’m not a transportation expert,” and instead asked the questioner what proposals he would have.

“If you have an idea, come to me with it.” McInnis said.

The two candidates were on the same page on one issue, however – three ballot measures this November that would slash government and school revenues and limit the ability to borrow for projects should be defeated.

Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 “don’t add up,” McInnis said. He understands voter frustration with the cost of government, he said, “but as a leader I gotta say do the math. It doesn’t add up on these amendments. These are not good amendments.”

Hickenlooper also said he opposes the trio of measures.

“All three of those ultimately will result in us being unable to build anything,” Hickenlooper said. “From your point of view, it would be impossible for government to build anything. You’re condemning us to be a second tier country.”

Regional Transportation District (RTD) Director Juanita Chacon announced today that she is leaving the RTD Board of Directors and vacating her seat as Director of District C. Director Chacon said that the increasing demands on her professional and personal life made this decision necessary.

Ms. Chacon is a Realtor by trade, and the on-going economic downturn has required significant demands on maintaining her business. She said, “I am not independently wealthy, so balancing my family, my non-profit work and my real estate business now requires much more of my time to do each of them properly. I have loved every minute of my service to RTD, and I will continue to advocate for access to transit service for all.” Director Chacon said that with the untimely passing of her father a year ago, she wants to be able to continue to be able to spend essential time with her mother.

Because District C is in Denver, the authority for naming a replacement falls to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. That selection will then require confirmation by the Denver City Council. Director Chacon was appointed to the Board of Directors of RTD in August 2005 by Mayor Hickenlooper, and she was elected in November 2006 to a four year term that expires the end of 2010.

RTD Chairman Lee Kemp said, “RTD and the entire community owe Juanita a big thank you for her dedication and hard work. She has been an excellent RTD Board member who has fought for improving transit services for all RTD passengers. We look forward to working with Mayor Hickenlooper’s appointee to continue the great service Juanita has performed.”

Ms. Chacon is a Broker Associate for Re/Max Alliance City Living. She has been in real estate for over 20 years during which time she has consistently been recognized as a top producer. She has been honored as Hispanic Realtor of the Year, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Businesswoman of the Year, Re/Max President’s and 100% Club and is a candidate for the Re/Max Hall of Fame.

Active in many professional and civic organizations, Ms. Chacon has been a board member/chairperson of over 25 various non-profit agencies representing women, children and educational efforts. In November 2007 Juanita was honored by the board of directors of Family Star Montessori with their “Shining Star Award.” Ms. Chacon was appointed by Mayor Pena as a commissioner for Denver Urban Renewal Authority and appointed by Governor Romer to the State Housing Board serving two terms.
As a co-founder of the Latina Chamber, Director Chacon continues to be involved with issues affecting the Hispanic Community and she said she is “dedicated to the life-long journey of becoming bi-lingual.”

During a discussion of the FASTER vehicle-registration fee increases that Republicans have cited in their criticisms of Ritter and the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Hickenlooper suggested state officials hadn’t done a good enough job explaining the local implications of the state being “many billions of dollars behind” in paying for needed transportation projects.

Hickenlooper said it’s government’s job to communicate a need “before we start telling how much money we need.”

Hickenlooper said the state should fashion its transportation-needs message, telling people “here’s a bridge you need” or explaining how extra turn lanes on a specific state highway serving a community would result in safer traffic flows.

Go to the Longmont Times-Call to see the entire article.

Rendering shows a corner of South Broadway, currently under construction and funded in part by the Hickenlooper's 2007 Better Denver Bond Program.

John Hickenlooper

When John Hickenlooper hits the road to campaign for the governor’s office, the Denver mayor will get an up-close look at the maintenance and improvement needs of the state’s transportation network – and is likely to get an earful about what he should do to address its transportation funding crisis.

But Hickenlooper’s drive straight into the Colorado governor’s race will also have advocates of sustainable transportation infrastructure investments looking over his record for signs of what he might do to work on the crisis.

While the Denver mayor is famously known for his all-out support of the metro-wide rapid transit expansion FasTracks by the Regional Transportation District, his administration is moving more bricks and mortar in Denver at the moment through the 2007 Better Denver Bond Program.

Combined with a separate mill levy increase for maintenance catch-up – an urgent need at the state level for highways and bridges, but lacking the same recourse to property taxes – the Better Denver program was a collection of eight bond issue questions for capital improvements totaling over $500 million to parks, safety facilities, cultural facilities, libraries, streets and others. All passed.

The single largest bond question was for streets, transportation and public works at $149.8 million, 30 percent of the total.

Many of the high-profile projects promised when Denver voters approved 1D in November 2007 are underway, perhaps none more visible than the reconstruction of South Broadway in concrete, with planned landscaped medians and other improvements. The entire job is valued at $34.4 million, funded in part through the Better Denver Bond Program and federal transportation grants. This conjoining of funding sources is typical for getting large projects off the shelf and onto the ground.

The new layout of the block of South Broadway between Arkansas and Louisiana Avenue includes a raised and landscaped median and sidewalk trees.

The first segment from Arizona to Iowa Avenue is to be done this year, with the second segment from Yale to Wesley Avenue to start later this year. The center segment from Wesley to Iowa will be done in 2011.

When completed, the entire stretch of Broadway from the Englewood line to Fifth Avenue will be concrete except for the stretch through the Interstate 25 interchange between Ohio Avenue and Arizona. Plans for that small segment are still in flux as the city and the Colorado Department of Transportation work on reconfiguring the whole Lincoln-Broadway access to I-25.

Cross-section shows typical layout for South Broadway's sidewalks, parking lanes, travel lanes and median.

The improvements under construction include:
• Five to six feet of widened roadway per direction
• Enhancing intersection safety and functionality
• Medians, turn lanes, new traffic signals, utility upgrades, drainage and storm sewer improvements, sidewalks curb ramps, and new street lighting
• Putting utilities underground

Planned streetscape improvements include:
• Raised planting areas
• Colored, patterned concrete in the median
• Irrigation system in the median
• Tree plantings in medians and along sidewalks

You can check the status of the Better Denver Bond Program’s transportation, streets and public works projects at the city’s web site at Denvergov.org.

Among the larger projects are $10.35 million for widened sidewalks and pedestrian improvements along the east side of 14th Street through the downtown theater and convention district. You can view a video showing a computer-simulated overflight of this project here for Windows Media Player or here for Quicktime Media Player.

There is also $4.14 million for reconstruction of Cherry Creek Drive South between University and Colorado boulevards; $9.11 million for pedestrian and streetscape improvements along West Colfax and 14th Avenues between Bannock Street and Speer Boulevard – a continuation of the Civic Center green space concept from the park to Cherry Creek; and $5.175 million total for improvements for pedestrians and transit users along both East and West Colfax Avenue.

Hickenlooper on Tuesday became the sole Democrat in the race to replace Gov. Bill Ritter, who surprised the state’s political circles by pulling out of a re-election race. Former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis and Evergreen business owner Dan Maes are running to be the Republican nominee.

Hickenlooper has the crush of history riding against him. Only one person has ever been both a Denver mayor and a governor of Colorado. That was quite an unusual case. John Routt, for whom the northwest Colorado county was named during his first term, served as the state’s first governor from statehood in 1876 to 1879. Routt later was elected mayor of Denver in 1883, serving two years. Then in 1891, he ran again for governor and won another term.