RTD plans phone-in FasTracks forum

LONGMONT – Regional Transportation District representatives want to get the public’s input about what may happen in the future to the Denver-to-Longmont segment of the FasTracks commuter rail project.

RTD will call about 30,000 people at random on the District 1/north side of the metro area tonight, Monday, June 11, to hold a telephonic town-hall meeting to discuss FasTracks, other upcoming projects, existing bus service and anything else constituents want to talk about. District 1 includes Broomfield, Lafayette, most of Longmont, part of Thornton and parts of unincorporated Boulder, Adams and Weld counties.

The meeting is part of a series of forums around the metro area to get input from residents. In the meeting, participants can ask questions to their elected RTD board members and can participate in live polls by using their telephone keypads, RTD said in a press statement.

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Gabe Santos, Longmont’s mayor pro-tempore, is interested to find out how RTD is following up on a meeting in October at which Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway officials said RTD would need to pay $535 million upfront to use existing railroad lines from Westminster to Longmont as part of its FasTracks plan. RTD had estimated it would pay a lower cost to use existing rail lines.
 
“I keep hearing rumors in the wind that they’re coming up with something new,” Santos said. “I think everyone is clamoring for information. We have bits and nuggets, but nothing concrete.”

Santos said he will not listen in on the meeting, but that city staff members will. Santos has been outspoken about the RTD board’s apparent slowdown on the existing FasTracks rail plan to Longmont. RTD said in April that it would not put a 0.4 percent sales tax question to voters in November to raise money to keep FasTracks on track to be built in the 2020-2022 timeframe.

The telephone-call forum is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m. Those who don’t get a call but want to participate can call toll-free 1-855-269-4484.

FasTracks was approved by voters to expand rail and bus service throughout the eight-county RTD district. It is planned to include 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail and 18 miles of bus rapid transit service. It also includes a redevelopment plan for Denver’s Union Station and includes 21,000 new car parking spaces.