HomeMy WebLinkAbout20063258.tiff NOU-13-2006 16:51 CLEAR*CREEK*COUNTY 3036792440 P.03,07
........
Clear Greek County
POST OFFICE BOX 2000
Y- im GEORGETOWN, COLORADO 8O444
TELEPHONE: (303)669-326I • (303) 679-2300
November 7, 2006
Transportation Commission of Colorado
Colorado Department of Transportation
4201 E. Arkansas Ave.
Denver, CO 80222
•
Dear Transportation Commissioners:
We would like to respond to your recent concern relating to the 1-70 portion of the Front Range
Commuter Rail (FRCR) Rail Feasibility Study. We understand that you are concerned that the
FRCR study will simply duplicate work already completed in the I-70 Draft Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (I-70 DPEIS). We respect and understand this concern, but
believe that you may have an incomplete picture of the intent of the FRCR Rail Feasibility Study
and the desired outcome. The FRCR east/west study will have a broader rail transit scope than
the DPEIS. It will include a rail system evaluation between DIA and Grand Junction, including
system connectivity to existing rail ROW's such as the Tennessee Pass and Moffat Tunnel lines.
The Draft PEIS is mostly limited to the I-70 highway ROW between C-470 and Eagle County
Airport.
The FRCR organization and the I-70 Coalition represent a number of groups including towns,
cities, counties and private organizations throughout the state. Working together they have
established a well coordinated effort to evaluate the feasibility of passenger rail deployment
throughout the state of Colorado. The scope of this study is intended to go well beyond the
individual I-25 and 1-70 corridors and address the growing multimodal transportation needs
throughout Colorado.
Our vision is a statewide rail transit network that compliments the state's highway system, but
does not replace it. The FRCR rail system will provide Colorado's residents and visitors with an
attractive and convenient option to driving and will add critical capacity
co the on state's
multimodal
al
transportation network. We continue to believe that there is strong publi political
in
Colorado for multimodal transportation solutions. Unlike many of corre idors througho current ut cut the ha hway
ste and
improvement studies, our effort is focused on the primary rail
how they can be most effectively utilized to add critical capacity to the state's multimodal
transportation system.
In addition, we understand that there are a number of CDOT projects and studies on the I-25
corridor such as the North I-25 EIS, the 1-25 Valley Highway EIS,the I-25 Pueblo Freeway
Study and the US 85 and I-25 projects in Douglas County. We believe that these studies will be
complimented by the FRCR north/south Rail Feasibility study in the same way as the I-70 PEIS
will be complimented by the FRCR east/west Rail Feasibility Study in a genuine effort to
develop multimodal solutions for Colorado's growing transportation needs.
(1 fl1rl rv9 ail(r�f}fi/d t(f
CO Pct ft 2005-3258
NOV-13-2006 16:51 CLERR*CREEK*C0UNTY 3036792440 P.04/07
We would also recommend that if the Transportation Commission is considering changes to the
previously approved list of SB 1 transit projects,that the Statewide Task Force be reconvened to
provide their input on the proposed changes. It is our understanding that the Task Force
approved the FRCR Rail Feasibility Study with the understanding that it included both the
north/south and east/west corridors.
We have provided additional items for Transportation Commission review in Appendix 1 and 2
of this letter. These items will provide you and your fellow commissioners with the necessary
information to consider before taking action on the east/west portion of the FRCR Rail
Feasibility Study.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this request. We look forward to working with
you.
Sincerely,
CLEAR CREE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
evi' ��i!►-Chairm•
an Drury, Comm= •er
"
Harry Dale,"'rev
NOU-13-2006 16:52 CLERR*CREEK*C0UNTY 3036792440 P.05/07
Exhibit A
Described below are some of the more important factors that should be considered by the SB1
Task Force and the Transportation Commission for funding approval for the east/west portion of
the FRCR Rail Feasibility Study.
1. All appropriate technical work by the 1-70 PEIS team should be considered for potential
inclusion in the FRCR Rail Feasibility Study. Immediately following the November
Commission Meeting and with CDOT guidance on procedures to draw upon the SB 1
funds for the study,the FRCR organization intends to ask CDOT to provide digital copies
of all appropriate reports,models, databases, comments received and mapping developed
for the I-70 PEIS that could be of value to the rail feasibility study. The FRCR study will
also review the FTA Colorado Maglev Project Final Report and other appropriate I-70
study documents for inclusion in the FRCR study.
The FRCR team will want to meet with the I-70 PEIS Team periodically as they work
through the study. The establishment of a Management Coordination Review Team to
ensure products are available and consistent between the two studies might be very
useful. The FRCR organization recognizes that the two studies are fundamentally
different. The I-70 PEIS is oriented toward establishing a plan of compatible projects,
staged over time to relieve traffic congestion from the Hogback to Glenwood Springs
while the Rail Feasibility Study is oriented toward developing a statewide passenger and
freight rail system, ready to begin revenue operations in 2016. The FRCR focus will
always be on delivering an effective product on time and at least cost, consistent with
Federal Railway Administration rules and regulations and coordinated with the affected
local governments, operating agencies and the State.
The FRCR organization wants to ensure good coordination between all agencies,not only
in the area between the Hogback and Glenwood Springs,but throughout the corridors that
the Rail Feasibility Study will evaluate. The establishment of corridor technical,
management and policy committees that include all affected agencies, including the
MPOs,transit operating agencies, local governments,railroads and appropriate CDOT
Region and Headquarter Staff and Commission Members will be necessary.
2. The FRCR Rail Feasibility Study area is much larger than the I-70 PEIS area. It covers
the area between DIA and Utah, the Roaring Fork Valley, service to Steamboat and Craig
and analyzes the need for a line over Cottonwood Pass between Gypsum and Carbondale.
3. The I-70 Coalition could act as a policy body for the FRCR study in much of the I-70
area At the recent I-70 Coalition Transit Workshop and Retreat, consensus was reached
for an operational rail transit system in the mountain corridor by 2016.
The likely Federal regulator for this proposed system will be the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA). The first thing the FRA shall require of us is to conduct a Rail
Corridor Study. The second attachment is a copy of the FRA guidance to prepare the rail
feasibility study.
1
NOV-13-2006 16:52 CLEAR*CREEK*C0UNTY 3036792440 P.06/07
The following is an approximate timetable for an operational rail transit system in the I-
70 corridor by 2016.
January 2007 to December 2008
Completion of the FRCR Rail Feasibility Study and provision of securing financing for
the project will take up to 2 years.
January 2009 to July 2010
An environmental impact statement prepared for the FRA signature will take another one
and one half years even with significant streamlining and cooperation with the 1-70 PEIS
Team and COOT.
August 2010 to July 2011
Final engineering,ROW negotiations and defining operating rules with the Union Pacific
(UP) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe(BNSF) will take another year.
August 2011 to July 2016
Construction will likely take an additional 5 years, to July, 2016. This last date is
consistent with the full RTD FasTracks system completion and only two years before the
possible 2018 Winter Olympics in Colorado (a bid from a Colorado based organization
will likely occur which could result in additional Federal Funds being made available for
this project).
If the I-70 Coalition key principle of development of a long term transit solution for the
corridor is adopted by CDOT, then we need to start the FRA required feasibility study
NOW for the system to be operational in 2016.
4. Time is of the essence to coordinate with the RTD and CDOT project development
processes. Connectivity to the RTD FasTracks system and the potential use of CDOT
ROW should be examined now before decisions made by RTD and CDOT exclude future
statewide rail corridor options. The FRCR organization is concerned with the planned
capacity at Denver Union Station(DUS) and has initiated discussions with RTD to better
accommodate east/west trains at the station. The FRCR organization believes that
discussions with CDOT concerning ROW along the I-76 and I-70 corridors could begin
in early 2007.
5. According to the FRA Guidelines for a corridor study, a detailed description of each
corridor with specific alignments is necessary. Platform sizes, sidings located,
operational plans down to the second, tangent, curve and spiral locations,tunnels, power
plans, control plans, physical inventories of the rail lines and other details that will allow
the FRA to determine if the railroad design will operate within their rules and regulations
are all required. A FRA feasibility study is not a railway plan developed as an alternative
to a highway plan,but a rail program developed for FRA rail engineer review and
approval that will be built and operated within ERA regulations.
2
NOU-13-2006 16:52 CLERK*CREEK*COUNTY 3036792440 P.07/07
The FRA requires consideration of train operations even several hours away from each
point in the system.Rail operations are not dissipated with distance as are highway
operations. Understanding of east/west travel is essential to properly plan for north/south
travel on a railroad.
6. The FRCR organization intends to work closely with each resort and community in the
mountain corridor to define connectivity to each major resort and traffic generator.
Unlike the PEIS,the FRCR organization intends to pursue direct, non stop service
from
o om
several locations in the Denver Region and other locations along the Front Rang
the
major resorts, including Black Hawk, Central City, Winter Park, Loveland,Keystone,
Breckenridge, Copper Mountain,Vail, Beaver Creek, and the Aspen Resorts.
7. The 1-70 Coalition SB1 Land Use Study will need the FRCR Rail Feasibility Study to
iteratively define alignments for station location, performance characteristics and
demand.
8. The FRCR organization has initiated discussions with Club 20,Action 15,Progress 21,
DRCOG and Move Colorado and will meet later with the State Legislature to investigate
funding possibilities. These organizations will likely consider,with either of the
governor candidates, changes to financing transportation for the state. A key factor in
these discussions will be the identification of rail transit needs for the area between DIA
and Grand Junction with service to all the resorts along the mountain corridor_
9. The FRCR organization is encouraged by the great political support for the FRCR effort,
even before the rail feasibility studies begin. Both candidates for Governor have publicly
stated they would support such a study_ Local governments will supply the local match
of$311,500 and the Congress will be asked by our congressional delegation to fund
Phase II that will match the SB 1 and local match funds.
10. The systems under consideration shall have higher performance capabilities than those
considered by the I-70 DPEIS.Design and cost of guideways,vehicle, operating plans
and infrastructure requirements will be different under the FRCR program and will be
subject to a"lean manufacturing process"to eliminate waste and to best understand
customer expectations.
11. The FRCR organization intends to develop a staged statewide rail system that will be
operational during 2016 and which includes both freight and passenger rail systems going
east/west in the mountains and plains,north/south along the Front Range and plains, and
includes the UP Tennessee Pass Line. If funding is restricted to only north/south
movements, future negotiations with the UP (which owns rail ROW both north/south and
east/west)will be more difficult as the advantages of a statewide system that benefits
both passenger and freight rail movements,will be negated through fragmentation and
disconnection.
3
TOTAL P.07
NOV-13-2006 16 51 CLERR*CREEK*C0UNTY 3036792440 P.01/07
Cc: Colorado Governor Bill Owens
Tom Norton, Executive Director of CDOT
Jeff Kullman,Region 1 Director, CDOT
Colorado Senator Joan Fitz-Gerald
Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff
Colorado Governor-Elect Bill Ritter
U.S. Congressman Mark Udall
U.S. Senator Ken Salazar
U.S. Senator Wayne Allard
Colorado Representative Tom Plant
Colorado Representative-Elect Claire Levy
Jefferson County Board of Commissioners
Gilpin County Board of Commissioners
Grand County Board of Commissioners
Summit County Board of Commissioners
Eagle County Board of Commissioners
Garfield County Board of Commissioners
Pitkin County Board of Commissioners
Mesa County Board of Commissioners
Boulder County Board of Commissioners
Adams County Board of Commissioners
Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners
Douglas County Board of Commissioners
El Paso County Board of Commissioners
Pueblo County Board of Commissioners
Huerfano County Board of Commissioners
Las Animas Board of Commissioners
Larimer County Board of Commissioners
ICAF,14SINVY Bpard,gf Cotrt nissione1Z1
NOU-13-2006 16 51 CLEAR*CREEK*COUNTY 3036792440 P.02/07
•
Memorandum
To: Copied Recipients of this letter
CC:
From: Beth Luther for the Clear Crock Board of County Commissioners
Date: 11/13/2006
Re: Attached letter to the Colorado Transportation Commission
Hello:
Should you have any questions regarding the attached document,please contact:
Clear Creek County Commissioner Harry Dale
hid I 73 a.wispertel.net
303-670-0085
Thank you.
Hello