As a follow-up to my April blog regarding progress toward completing the US 36 BRT system, I am please to report that my RTD Board colleagues voted this month to immediately commit $30 million toward further advancing elements of the full system.  This decision is expected to leverage sufficient funds to construct high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, in both directions, between the Wadsworth interchange in Broomfield and the existing HOV lanes in Westminster.

This was not a simple vote for the RTD Board, as there is some risk that committing $30 million now will threaten the ability to complete the final design work on the remaining unfunded FasTracks corridors.  However, as RTD staff and most of my RTD Board colleagues agreed, there are many countervailing reasons for taking that risk:

1)  The $30 million from RTD will leverage about $130 million in funding from a variety of other sources toward a total investment in the US BRT system of $160 million;

2)  The communities along the US 36 corridor have been a model of cooperation in RTD’s efforts to secure additional funding sources, culminating in their successful advocacy for additional federal and state support; and,

3)  The investment in US 36 will initiate concrete progress on an element of the FasTracks system, with immediate construction activity that will achieve significant transit benefits.

There are still some elements of the full $160 million financing package that need clarification before we get the final green light to proceed toward construction on this next phase in the US 36 BRT project.  This includes insuring that the private contractor bids for the Eagle P3 project, which will outline the extent of RTD’s financial commit to construction of the East and Gold rail lines, are within budget expectations.  I am confident that all of these pieces will fall into place and we will begin digging dirt in 2011.

In the meantime, I want to extend my thanks to the coalition of local governments along the US 36 corridor that has worked so hard to bring this exciting opportunity to our doorstep.  I also applaud my RTD Board colleagues, particularly Lee Kemp and Bill Christopher who joined me in advocating strongly for the $30 million commitment, that voted to seize this financially responsible opportunity to advance another element of the FasTracks plan.