The Rumpus on High-Speed Rail in the Rockies

Politicians love to talk about the fiscal deficit, but what about Americas infrastructure and transportation deficit? Take high speed rail, for example. What should have been a bipartisan slam dunk has turned into an ideological battlefield pitting the Obama Administration against some budget hawk Republican governors who have rejected high-speed rail funding initially allotted to their states as part of the $8 billion approved by Congress in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

So while states such as California are quickly moving their passenger rail system into the 21st century, other states like Florida are content to keep its citizens chugging along the creaky rails of last century (but they are saving money right?).

What about the Rocky Mountain states–are New Mexico and Colorado riding the bullet train to the future?

The answer is no. But that doesnt mean the two states, along with Texas, didnt try. After they werent chosen as one of the ten federally-funded high-priority HSR corridors, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter teamed up on a proposal to build an HSR line between Denver and El Paso, with the midway point near Albuquerque.

According to the Denver Business Journal, a study released in early 2010 said that high speed rail along Colorados interstate 70 and 25 corridors would generate billions for the economy. The study, sponsored by Colorado Department of Transportation and the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority, said the project would generate $33 billion in benefits for the state through job creation, income and higher property values.

However, the price tag would have been $22 billion for HSR, all funded by the three states without federal assistance. So what happened? Well, in case youve been living under a rail tie, last November anti-HSR Republicans swept into Congress and Governor Mansions across the country. Perry followed his fiscally conservative comrades in Wisconsin and Florida by rejecting HSR funding. Richardsons Republican replacement, Susana Martinez, is another fiscal conservative who doesnt seem keen on HSR. That leaves former Denver Mayor and current Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who believes in biking and other alternative forms of transportation. In short, he is Mr. HSR.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper

So what was once a promising bipartisan collaboration to bring HSR to the Southwestern United States has fallen victim to the anti-HSR fervor sweeping the GOP. But there is hope in Hickenlooper. And a lot of money has been freed up by the states that rejected HSR funding. Will Colorado be rewarded? Is high speed rail along the Front Ridge of Rockies between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs via Denver in the cards?

Stay tuned.