Is one city a Region?
July 27th, 2007
While it was not an ‘official vote’, so there doesn’t appear to be a record of which members supported it. Mayor Tom Selders did say he was for it, and Pam Shaddock was against the RTA.
“My belief is that we’re out of time and the RTA is not ready,” said Councilwoman Pam Shaddock.
The Council was stuck on two major issues. The lack of an ‘opt-out’ option and the fear that Greeley dollars would be used to improve the roads around Centerra near I-25.
This first issue seems legitimate, but the second is not. Highway 34 from I-25 is THE main artery into Greeley. Travel between Greeley, Loveland and Fort Collins has already become problematic. Without a significant investment at Centerra, the problem will continue to grow. If the US 34 Corridor is not kept open Greeley will become even more isolated from it’s Northern Colorado neighbors.
The bottom line is that now Loveland is the sole remaining large city involved with the RTA project. Will Loveland be enough to keep the dream alive? Will the Loveland voters approve a project where they stand alone? If the RTA does come into existence, will Loveland reap the rewards and become the Northern Colorado transportation hub?
It will be interesting to see.
4 Comments »
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I think you missed a significant problem with the RTA. The issues surrounding the expenses at 25-34, are not really a stumbling block to Greeley’s involvement. This biggest problem is that McWhinney committed to paying significant amounts to improve roadways and intersections at 25-34, then allowed Rich Shannon to drive the NCLA and MPO to establish the RTA plan. Once it looked like the RTA had sufficient momentum, Loveland and Centerra amended their Master Finance Agreement to include a loophole which will allow Centerra to get off the hook (by some estimates to the tune of $200 million) for their commitments.
Whether the RTA is a quality idea is beside the point of the problem. We, as Greeley residents, HAVE to start thinking regionally, but Pam is exactly right, this proposal is not ready, and it unfairly benefits a single developer who has gamed the system the for the life of the Centerra developmen.
Comment by jobu — July 30, 2007 @ 3:34 pm
Great comment. If what you say is true, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all, this is a very valid reason for Greeley to not to be involved in the RTA. If you have references, please post them.
Of course, will non participation in the RTA force Centerra to live up to their commitments? I’m guessing this is not the case and that the I25-34 interchange will just become more of a festering wound in the area’s infrastructure.
That aside, I do think a regional transportation plan is at least 10 years overdue. Greeley and Fort Collins city councils’ lack of participation feels like selfishness. Until the cities can work together I don’t see much future for the progress. I am very afraid that there will never be a proposal that is ‘ready’.
Comment by Bob — July 30, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
Bob - I have a slew of sources, from the MFA and amendments, some analysis about project cost in the MFA and in the RTA plan, a myriad of email from various members of the RTA citizens’ board, and such. I will be happy to blast them to you. Suffice it to say that I am confident that this idea was a money grab by Centerra (you have to be suspicious of a development that managed their tax authority by declaring a bunch of farmland to be urban blight). You can get a better picture by reading some of the stuff I posted at http://widestreets.net, and you can email me at jobu (at) widestreets (dot) net.
Comment by jobu — July 30, 2007 @ 11:04 pm
jobu - I would love to have any information you have that’s not already publicly posted elsewhere and can be uploaded to my site.
I’ll send you an email.
Comment by Bob — July 31, 2007 @ 6:54 pm