Free Republic

A transportation panel appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter and charged with taking public input around the state the rest of this year is, "little more than an attempt to justify the governor's next big tax hike," Senate Republican leader Andy McElhany said today. The veteran Colorado Springs lawmaker, who has made transportation a cornerstone of the Republican agenda, said a sustainable mechanism for transportation-funding already exists, "if only the General Assembly can refrain from siphoning money off of it to grow other programs." "These blue-ribbon panels that bring together notable experts and interested citizens are fine and well if all...

FasTracks is nearly $1.5 billion over its original $4.7 billion budget, forcing RTD to look even more closely at hiring private companies to build and operate rail lines. The new, $6.2 billion total - a 32 percent increase - reflects requests for extras on FasTracks corridors and unexpected spikes in things such as steel, concrete and copper. "The cost increases in construction materials really whacked us," Cal Marsella, RTD general manager... One example: the cost of steel to be used in tracks, bridges and other structures went up from an average of 73 cents a pound in Colorado in 2003,...