In November 2004, after a public relations blitz trumpeting support by the mayors of 31 municipalities in the seven-county Front Range area, those voters approved a $4.7 billion package – dubbed FasTracks  – that would bring 122 miles of new train service to the greater metropolitan area. It would also include 18 miles of Bus Rapid Transit, more than 21,000 new parking spaces and improved bus service to help potential riders make their way to the new train lines. Denver’s historic Union Station would also be redeveloped and become the centerpiece of the system.

The FasTracks blueprint called for six new rail corridors as well as extensions to the existing lines serving the central corridor, southeast and southwest. All by 2017.

Since that plan was conceived of, the economy took a dive, and projected sales tax revenues – a major source of RTD funds – have declined dramatically during the recession, as the costs of building the system have gone up from the original $4.7 billion estimate, to a current projected $6.7 billion. And the original 2017 FasTracks completion date is sitting on a siding.

“If  we were forced to rely on our currently projected income (from sales tax and fares), FasTracks would not be built out until 2042,” says FasTracks spokesman Kevin Flynn.

Although funding is in place for the next two segments of the project (East and West lines), either increased revenues or federal dollars are needed to complete the full build-out on the new schedule – by 2019.

To close the $2.5 billion gap between projected costs and expected revenue, the agency is considering an increase – four-tenths of one percent – to RTD’s portion of Denver’s sales tax for the 2011 ballot.

So with some shifting of time frames and operational strategies, the project is back on track and  moving forward.

The first FasTracks element – completed earlier this year – was Phase I of the 18-mile Bus Rapid Transit system along Highway 36. The $23.3 million project used a variety of systemic improvements – bus ramps, pedestrian bridges and park-n-Rides – to shave 15 minutes from the bus commute between Denver and Boulder. Phase II – not yet scheduled – will, in T-REX fashion, combine highway expansion and Bus Rapid Transit to further improve transit efficiency along U.S. 36.

“By  the end of 2010, we’ll have 47 miles either under construction or contracted, including the West line and Eagle P3,” said Pauletta Tonilas, public information manager for FasTracks.

Work on the 12.1-mile West Corridor (light rail), connecting downtown with Jefferson County, Lakewood and Golden, is well under way, and should open sometime in 2013. Twelve stations will serve local neighborhoods as well as the Federal Center, Red Rocks Community College and the Jefferson County Government Center (the Taj Mahal) in Golden.

Eagle P3 refers to a $2.3 billion public-private partnership created to fund, operate and maintain  the 22.8-mile East Corridor from Union Station to DIA; the 11.2-mile Gold Line from Union Station through northwest Denver and Adams County to Ward Rd. in Arvada; and a short, 6.2-mile section of the Northwest Rail Corridor overlapping  part of the Gold Line, from Union Station to 71st Ave. and Federal Blvd. in Westminster. The Northwest line will eventually stretch 41 miles from Union Station to Longmont, with stops in north Denver, Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville and Boulder.

Tonilas explained that public-private partnerships are a tool RTD has long employed to maximize service while minimizing taxpayers’ outlay.

“RTD  will operate all the light rail lines, West, I-225, all the existing lines and extensions. But we’re looking at P3 for the commuter rail segments. The system should run seamlessly. Right now, private operators are running about half of our buses, and it’s worked extremely well.”

Those of you chomping at the bit to take the train to DIA will be glad to know that ground-breaking on the East line is slated for sometime this month. Construction on the Gold Line and Northwest Rail should get started in 2011 if a $1 billion funding agreement with the Federal Transit Administration comes through as expected. Completion of both the East and Gold Line corridors is expected by early 2016, with  the initial Northwest segment opening later that year.

Work on a .8-mile extension to the Central Corridor is currently scheduled to start moving dirt some time in 2013, and by 2016 have the Central line meeting  up with the East line at 38th Ave. and Blake St.  with stops along Downing St. at 33rd Ave. and 35th  Ave.

Next up on the  FasTracks calendar, as the financing gods allow, will be the North Metro Corridor and the I-225 Corridor, both set for construction to start in 2013 with completion expected in 2019. North Metro will run electric or diesel commuter rail from the Union Station hub 18.4 miles into Northglenn, Commerce City and Thornton, ending at 162nd Ave. The I-225 Corridor work will bring the existing light rail line from Parker Rd. north to an intersection with the East Line to DIA,  at Peoria St. and Smith Rd.

Also slated for the tail end of the project are extensions bringing light rail deeper into our southern suburbs. The Southeast Corridor light rail line will stretch an additional 2.3 miles south from Lincoln Ave. to RidgeGate Parkway in Lone Tree, serving both Sky Ridge Hospital and the future Lone Tree City Center.

The Southwest Corridor will extend 2.5 miles from the existing Mineral Station to Lucent Boulevard in Highlands Ranch. Both extensions are currently expected to start construction in 2015, with completion expected by 2019.

Until then, the public will benefit in other ways, says Tonilas, emphasizing the positive impact that FasTracks has had, and will have on the metro economy.

“We’ve  paid out $1 billion so far to contractors, and we’re early in the project. And almost $200 million of that was to local, small businesses.” Thus far the project has “put 1,000 people to work,” said Tonilas. “During the two-year peak period for FasTracks, when we have multiple corridors in the ground, we’ll have 10,000 jobs going. The Eagle P3 will have 5,400 jobs at its peak.”

 For more information, visit www.rtd-fastracks.com.