LONGMONT, Colo. – The Longmont City Council voted Tuesday to approve a resolution urging the Regional Transportation District to put the agency’s cost savings into an account to help finish construction on FasTracks transit projects, specifically the rail line that would end in Longmont.
Through refinancing the federal loan used to fund work on Denver Union Station, RTD is set to save $6 million a year through 2040 for a total savings of about $134 million.
In addition, RTD withheld more than $2.6 million from Denver Transit Partners over issues with the University of Colorado A Line. The Longmont City Council wants RTD to put both of those sums into the FasTracks Internal Savings Account so that the money may be used to finish construction of the B Line.
The B Line, also called the Northwest Rail Line, is part of the FasTracks transit expansion that voters approved in 2004. The first leg of the line, from Denver Union Station to Westminster, opened in July 2016.
Longmont taxpayers have paid about $40 million to RTD for FasTracks construction since 2004, according to the council resolution, but residents there have yet to benefit from any of the new projects.
According to RTD, the final portion of the B Line to Longmont will be built “as funding becomes available."
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