Major FasTracks grant to be announced today

(Image: RTD)

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Federal Transit Administration Administrator Peter Rogoff are in Arvada today to announce a major funding agreement for the RTD FasTracks lines to Denver International Airport and to Arvada and Wheat Ridge.

The grant is expected to be in the range of $1 billion, as first reported in The Colorado Independent in July. Also attending the ceremony will be Gov. John Hickenlooper, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and various RTD and city and county representatives.

“It’s estimated that every $1 invested in transit infrastructure translates into a $4 return on investment in the local economy over a 20-year period. That’s an investment we all benefit from for years to come. Rebuilding and expanding America’s transportation infrastructure is a key element to our nation’s economic recovery. And with this unique long-term public-private partnership, the Denver region will continue to lead the nation with innovative and outside-the-box solutions to meet our transportation needs,” Perlmutter said in a prepared statement.

The grant is expected to be the largest transit grant yet awarded by the Obama administration. Festivities in Olde Town Arvada will begin at around 2:30.

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

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