RTD chief offers reassurance on FasTracks
Tweaks won't alter basic project, he tells Denver panel
Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News
Published May 22, 2007 at midnight
Communities fear they will lose influence over the look of FasTracks as RTD tries to cope with a $670 million deficit in the $6.2 billion plan, a Denver city councilwoman told the Regional Transportation District's top official on Monday.
Judy Montero, who represents Denver's District 9, said cost-cutting ideas such as scrapping electric-powered trains in two FasTracks corridors in favor of diesel-powered cars go against community wishes.
"How can voters trust what you're presenting when they're not getting what they voted for?" Montero asked RTD General Manager Cal Marsella as she chaired the council's FasTracks Committee.
Marsella said RTD would deliver the basic program presented to voters even if some details have to change to keep the project affordable.
"They are getting what they voted for," he said. "They're getting all the lines, all the lengths of the lines, all the stations. There will be tweaks, but that would happen in any project."
The lines to Denver International Airport and Arvada-Wheat Ridge are planned as electrified commuter trains. At least two FasTracks corridors - from Union Station to Boulder-Longmont and to Commerce City- Thornton - are planned for self- propelled diesel-powered cars.
The RTD board will try next month to decide whether to make all four of those corridors diesel-powered to save money.
"They're going to have to pick technologies," he said. "It's a very big issue. It's a very volatile issue in some communities."
Montero and other Denver officials have lobbied for electrification, contending it is less polluting and not as noisy.
Denver council members also expressed concern that if RTD uses private companies to finance, build and operate some or all of the FasTracks lines, communities would lose input over the final product.
Marsella assured them that RTD would have control over the outcome.
flynnk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5247
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