A letter to the editor of the local paper about an $8 billion soaking of the taxpayers.

With all due respect to the editors of the Sentinel and Thornton Mayor Busck who recently have endorsed the FasTracks plan, I have to disagree.  This is the wrong plan for the north metro area.

When voters look at this issue, they need to consider some things.  The cost of this project is published at $4.7 billion but in actuality is closer to $8 billion when including all principal, interest, grants and cash.  These costs are spread out through the year 2048 – over 40 years from now.  How many of us will even be around to see this project paid off?  Any bets that within the next 40 years RTD will again come at the tax payers for yet more money?  You can count on it. 

Further, as the project is centered on RTD, it of course is entirely focused on mass transit solutions.  On the north metro corridor, this is currently 12 percent of commuter traffic.  It is a fact of life that in Colorado and much of the western U.S., the vast majority of people do not use mass transit.  As such, why are we looking at a solution that most of us will not even use? 

So, what does that $4.7 billion and 40 years buy Northglenn and Thornton residents?  One single rail line and a lot of parking.  The cost of that one rail line and these parking lots?  $428 million – less than 10 percent of the total cost of the project.  North metro residents will bear a significant portion of the costs of the project and yet we only receive 10 percent of the benefits? 

And finally, most importantly, what is this going to do to commuter's travel times?  Surely for $4.7 billion we will see congestion on the roads decrease and all enjoy shorter drive times.  Wrong.  By RTD's own numbers, this project will have NO IMPACT on highway speeds in the north metro area. 

In a nutshell, we as taxpayers are being asked to fork over $4.7 billion for a project which in the end has no benefit for the majority of drivers.  In fact, for commuters across the entire Denver metro area the net increase in average speed range from zero to three miles per hour – a zero to miniscule return for the amount of money we are talking about. 

Mayor Busck says, "Just think about the reduced traffic you'll enjoy…"  The fact is there will not be reduced traffic. FasTracks is not the answer.

Would it not make more sense to come up with a solution that helps commuters of all types?  A responsible transit plan should include all aspects – not just light rail and buses.  The fact of the matter is that no true improvement in travel times in the metro area is going to occur without improved and expanded highways in addition to mass transit solutions. 

There is no doubt that as the mayor states, the north metro area has traditionally been shortchanged and ignored.  However, voting for a solution that has no real benefit just because we feel we have to do something is not right.  We need to vote no on FasTracks and then put our elected officials in Adams County, the Northglenn and Thornton city councils and the state to work for us to come up with a comprehensive solution that truly addresses our needs.