Not Build It?

The cost of one of Denver’s FasTracks lines has gotten so high that RTD, the transit agency, is actually considering not building it. The press kindly reports the cost of the Longmont-to-Denver “Northwest” commuter-rail line as rising from $895 million to more than $1.7 billion, but that ignores the actual initial cost projections.

As the Antiplanner has previously noted, the original cost was projected to be just $211 million. As of last month, that had increased to $1.4 billion. Now it’s above $1.7 billion.
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Rather than not build it, RTD would like to ask voters to increase the sales tax to fund this and the other lines that it had previously promised would be built without cost overruns. But it realizes that voters are not likely to support such a measure. So it is now considering throwing some new highways into the pot, hoping voters will support that. It might be surprised to find that at least some voters oppose subsidies to highways as much as they oppose subsidies to rail transit.

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About The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner is a forester and economist with more than fifty years of experience critiquing government land-use and transportation plans.

3 Responses to Not Build It?

  1. Sandy Teal says:

    How much of the project are local voters being asked to pay for, and how much is federal and state funded?

    Many bond elections (schools, utilities and highways too) are sold as being a way to “get” matching money for local jobs.

  2. Andrew says:

    Unless you can explain in simple terms what costs increased, its hard to get outraged like you are.

    Did the scope change?

    Did the project add double track, electrification, additional stations, more cars, or what since that 2001 estimate?

    Did the MIS planners simply overlook major scope items that engineers later determined were critical?

    Did prices simply go up for steel, fuel, concrete, and labor?

    What made the price change?

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