When voters have to decide whether to fund the completion of the light rail system in Aurora, elected officials from other cities say their residents will step up to help.
Regional Board District members at their May 22 meeting are slated to nix the idea for a tax hike this November and look for other ways to fund the rest of the FasTracks projects, while the prospect of a tax question in 2013 remains in limbo.
Mayors of western cities say that although they’re not able to predict the outcome of a future ballot question, they’re confident that residents in those cities will vote to help build out the FasTracks line in Aurora, even though the western portion of the project will be complete next year.
“I believe the citizens of Lakewood and Jefferson County understand that this is a system,” said Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy. “The system needs to be built out to enable all of us out here to have the flexibility to get from here to there, wherever ‘there’ is.”
The West Rail Line will run through Denver, Lakewood, Golden and Jefferson County and it will include 12 stations, covering a total of about 12 miles. It’s 91 percent complete and slated to be finished in May 2013 according to an RTD spokeswoman.
When the West Rail Line is up and running, residents of other cities will realize the value of the public transportation system, Murphy said.
“I believe that the more people see of light rail and trains running, the more people want it,” said Murphy, who is also the chairman of the Metro Mayors Caucus FasTracks Task Force.
The tax hike, whenever it’s approved for the ballot, would be equal to 0.4 percent — the second tax hike of its kind for RTD since voters approved the one in 2004.
If taxpayers don’t approve the future ballot question, RTD officials have said the light rail line that would extend to Longmont wouldn’t be complete until about 2042.
Golden Mayor Marjorie Sloan agreed that constituents in her city understand the significance of building out the project, especially for those cities who don’t yet have light rail.
“I think most people in Golden understand that the system is what’s important, and when the system is built out, it will be able to reach any part of the metro area,” she said.
She’s confident that Golden residents will want to help pay for the rest of the light rail construction, which includes the Interstate 225 corridor through Aurora, the Northwest Rail Line, and the southwest and central corridor rail lines.
“I think they have the basic understanding that it’s important to the whole region to share revenues and services,” Sloan said.
RTD board directors decided in April that the economic environment is still not conducive to pursuing a tax increase this November.
They will formally vote on the issue at their May 22 meeting.
Results from an independent poll showed that about 50 percent of registered voters would support a tax increase for building out the project, said RTD Board Member Tom Tobiassen, whose district covers Aurora.
“Going into a vote, you really want to have better support,” Tobiassen said. “It just felt like until people are feeling better about the economy, it’s not a good time to ask for the vote.”
Since this is a presidential election year, a campaign to encourage voters to approve the tax hike would be lost in the shuffle, he said.
Board members are still considering going forward with the ballot question in 2013, but Tobiassen said, but that’s not certain yet because there is typically lower voter turnout in odd-year elections.
Tobiassen also feels confident that voters in cities like Lakewood and Golden know how important it will be to travel from the west to Denver International Airport and places in Aurora.
“If you’re living along the south corridor, you want that connection to DIA, and the I-225 corridor is critical for them,” he said. He said the Anschutz Medical Campus employs such a large number of people that it’s important for residents of other cities who work there to have easy access to the campus.
But the struggle will be convincing voters who don’t use public transportation that building out the rest of the project is important.
“Younger people tend to see the connection more than the older generation,” he said.
When it’s complete, the I-225 Corridor will be a 10.5-mile light rail transit line that will travel mainly through Aurora. It’ll connect the existing Southeast Light Rail’s Nine Mile Station with the planned East Corridor’s Peoria/Smith Station and will include eight stations.
Infrastructure and roadway improvements are set to begin in Aurora starting May 11. The Colorado Department of Transportation approved a $42.8 million contract in April, awarded to Centennial-based SEMA Construction that includes the widening of Interstate 225 between East Mississippi Avenue and South Parker Road. The construction project will also replace the Yale Street bridge, which will eventually accommodate FasTracks light rail improvements like a light rail station at East Iliff Avenue and Blackhawk Street, where 600 surface parking spaces are currently planned.
The rest of Aurora’s I-225 light rail project could be completed sooner than anticipated if RTD accepts a proposal by a contractor. Last month, Kiewit Infrastructure Company submitted an unsolicited proposal to build out the rest of the I-225 Rail Line. A Request For Proposals was released earlier this week, and RTD Spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas said other companies are slated to submit proposals as well.
“There have been a lot of folks who have been following our project that touch base with us on a regular basis and are eager to have opportunities on FasTracks,” she said.
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.