[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: FW: Eagle P3 FFGA News

[kohls at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Osborne, Susan

Dear Colleagues,

A bit of good news as we start the July 4th weekend.  All of the federal funds have been released for the Eagle P3 project (see Phil Washington's note below...). This includes the first 6.5 miles of the Northwest Rail, but most importantly, the release of federal dollars assures that $90,000,000 of Fastracks funds will go to our BRT project.

Please don't miss Tracy's fine summary of the status of  the US36 BRT in the latest information packet.  We're anticipating the contractor selection this summer and the award of the TIFIA loan by September.  Ground-breaking will be next year, but there will be a set of political decisions once we have a look at the winning  bid.
Stay tuned!

Happy holiday,
Susan

Susan M. Osborne, Mayor
Boulder, Colorado
303-447-3280
Not that we noticed, but yesterday was the last day of the 60-Day Eagle P3 Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) U.S. Congressional Review.  I have been in contact with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Regional office this morning and they report that the last Congressional briefing was convened yesterday and everything went well.  The review period is now expired so it is on to the FFGA signing and local event.  We still do not have a date for the event.  However, I’m sure that will be forthcoming very soon.  We will send out a “Save the Date” as soon as we determine the event date.

In case you are asked, the following are key points relative to the FFGA and the Project:


•         FFGA Amount:  $1,030,450 billion

•         The largest FFGA awarded by the Obama Administration to date

•         What is a Public-Private Partnership (P3)?  An innovative financing and project delivery option in which a public entity partners with the private sector on a public infrastructure project.

•         Award is for the Eagle P3 project (East Line to DIA, Gold Line to Arvada, 6.5 miles of Northwest Rail, and a new commuter rail maintenance facility).  This is the largest transit Public Private Partnership project in North America and the lone P3 in FTA’s Penta-P program.

•         Capital cost of the Eagle P3 is $2.1 billion, largely funded by the $1.03 billion in federal funds and private equity from the concessionaire team, Denver Transit Partners.

•         Execution of the FFGA allows the District & its Concessionaire Team partners to break ground on the Gold Line and the Northwest Rail segment.  (You will recall we broke ground on the East Corridor in August 2010).

•         RTD retains ownership of the system throughout the concession period.

•         RTD retains control of service standards such as fares, cleanliness, service frequencies, etc.

•         The Project will create nearly 5,500 local jobs and is projected to carry 57,530 daily passengers by 2030.

This is great news for the region, the RTD, and our wonderful stakeholder partners.  Kudos to our Board, our Congressional delegation, our Governor, our metro mayors, the FTA, Denver Transit Partners, and the absolutely wonderful RTD staff in pulling this off.

Stay on the lookout for the FFGA event date – my guess is that it will be announced very soon.

Let me know if you have questions.

“Build as much as we can, as fast as we can, until it’s all done!”

Phil Washington






Sherry Ellebracht
Government Relations Officer
Regional Transportation District
1600 Blake Street
Denver, CO  80202
303-299-2353
sherry.ellebracht at rtd-denver.com<mailto:sherry.ellebracht at rtd-denver.com>