Corridors may have future urban uses

By John Sanko
Denver Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau

The state of Colorado doesn't want to get into the railroad business, but it's keeping a close eye on three lines that might be abandoned in the future.

Transportation officials warn that the state must stand ready to jump in with cash in hand — in this case, from $33 million to $46 million — if these lines are abandoned. Otherwise, they say, key corridors could be lost forever.

"We need to preserve the rail corridors in the state for future transportation usage," said Bill Haight, a Steamboat Springs businessman who serves on the Colorado Transportation Commission.

"We don't know what to expect five, 10 or 20 years from now. We're not interested in getting into the railroad business. We're more interested in preserving the corridors. We believe the state has an obligation to do so."

The commission has identified as critical three stretches of track — covering 278 miles — which could be abandoned but currently are in operation:

The Valmont Branch Line. It's 33 miles long, including a 17-mile stretch on the east side of Interstate 25 north of Denver. It could become part of a passenger rail service operation between Fort Collins and Denver. Boulder County and Erie also are interested in rail right-of-way west of I-25 to construct a line from Erie to Boulder. The line owned by the Union Pacific currently serves only two businesses.

• The Tennessee Pass Line. It's 223 miles long and stretches from Dotsero east of Glenwood Springs to Pueblo and goes through Leadville. Owned by the Union Pacific, no freight has been shipped on the line since 1996.

   

• The Fort Collins Branch. A 32-mile line of track running between Fort Collins and Greeley. The low-volume rail line is owned by Union Pacific and could eventually be part of a system providing passenger rail service from Fort Collins to Denver.

  If the state eventually buys any of them, it wouldn't be the first time Colorado has gone railroading. With some legislative arm-twisting in 1998, former Gov. Roy Romer signed a $10.4 million bill to buy the old 122-mile Towner Line in southeast Colorado from Union Pacific to save it from abandonment.

  Before the bill's passage, Romer sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to be cautious about buying the line, which stretches from Pueblo to Towner near the Kansas border.

  "The state government should not be in the business of owning or operating railroads," he wrote.

  A month later, he reluctantly signed the bill, but with the warning, "There are several other rail lines that may be abandoned in the future, and I am very concerned about the precedent we are setting."

  Colorado has nearly 3,000 miles of track throughout the state, the bulk of which is owned either by Union Pacific or Burlington Northern Santa Fe. About 270 miles are owned by eight regional railroads.

  "The key thing to remember is once they're gone, they're gone forever," said transportation department spokesman Dan Hopkins. "If they aren't preserved for future use, you can never get them back again."

  It was in March that the state finally leased the line to the Colorado Kansas & Pacific Railroad for five years with an option to buy. Haight thinks that effort set the tone for the future in Colorado.

  "When a line is abandoned, you can't put an immediate economic value on it," Haight said. "I think the value is the fact that the corridors will never be able to be rebuilt.

  "If the Tennessee Pass line were abandoned, you could never build a corridor through there again. It goes through a very environmentally sensitive area.

  "If it's ever abandoned, I don't think you could get the right to use it as a transportation corridor again. And what it does provide is an east-west corridor that could be used for various purposes. It's really critical."

  Contact John Sanko at (303) 892-5404 or at sankoj@RockyMountainNews.com.