Latest transportation stimulus projects get $73.6 million – North area gets nothing
March 22nd, 2009
The north Denver metro area once again gets nothing with the announcement of Governor Ritter’s latest picks for transportation stimulus funds. Despite having one of the most congested sections of I-25, our needs continue to be brushed aside by the state. Click here to see what projects did make the latest list. I was told that there simply wasn’t enough money in the porkulus to fund a widening of I-25 and yet somehow the latest list includes $35 million in funding for that exact thing in Colorado Springs.
As we reported previously, to date Thornton has received a traffic metering light at 84th Avenue which amounts to two one hundredths of one percent of the stimulus funds. The tax money of Colorado’s sixth largest city continues to go everywhere else in the state except here.
I just have to wonder…. We are on the short end of FasTracks. We are ALWAYS on the short end for transportation funds, not just with this round of stimulus money. According to the Sentinel, the city just spent $25,000+ to fly people to D.C. for a big conference and to lobby our lawmakers for support. One has to wonder… What exactly is council doing? Why does this type of thing continually happen? Obviously our lobbying efforts fall way short of where they should be.
Good questions, and they deserve an answer. What the Sentinel didn’t tell you was that we weren’t in DC to lobby for stimulus money for transportation. We have a few million in other appropriations requests that we’re working on as well as some issues related to fastracks. We actually get millions in federal money, most recently a couple million to widen 120th east of Holly. In fact, we need to expand our federal lobbying efforts and not curtail them so that we can be a player.
The other thing that the Sentinel didn’t tell you was that not all the stimulus money is doled out. We’re working on big grants for our water plant, fire, energy efficiency. We’ll get some.
Erik Hansen
Thornton Mayor
Mr. Mayor,
Thank you for taking the time to respond – that is much appreciated. I think like many in the north area I am just fed up with our area being treated as if we don’t exist when it comes to transportation dollars. This isn’t a new thing – it has been like that for 20+ years – and the stimulus dollars are a slap in our face. Even when DRCOG released money we were ignored. FasTracks isn’t going to do anything to solve I-25 congestion problems so we need to work now on solutions that do work and as much as folks may not like it, the widening of I-25 is the only thing that will accomplish that.
As for the DC trip, what called my attention to it was not so much the money as the fact that a council member took her grandson along on what was a city business trip. That makes the trip look superfluous.
I have to wonder…. Are area politicos going to spend what little political capital they have left on yet another FasTracks tax increase?