Title
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2025 BUDGET OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE CITY, COLORADO BY THE RECOGNITION OF FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $9,589,000 FOR THE CONSOLIDATED RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS GRANT PROGRAM AND AUTHORIZATION OF THE EXPENDITURE THEREOF
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Summary & Background
The City of Commerce City (“City”) seeks to create a new grade separated interchange with US 85 and 120th Avenue, and a grade-separation with 120th Avenue and the Union Pacific Railroad line to eliminate vehicular traffic bottlenecks and vehicle-rail collision locations to improve vehicular access while reducing road congestion. The City has been working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (“CDOT”), the City of Brighton and Adams County to meet this goal. The project received $8,700,000 in Transportation Improvement Program (“TIP”) funding in 2021 and has purchased some of the needed right-of-way.
To begin construction on this project, the City must conduct an environmental review, complete preliminary engineering and acquire additional right-of-way.
To achieve these goals, the City, with the support of Adams County and the City of Brighton applied for a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (“CRISI”) grant administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) in the Fall 2021. The CRISI grant program provides funding for projects that improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of intercity passenger and freight rail.
In 2022, the City was notified of its award of CRISI funding in the amount of $9,589,000 to complete the environmental review, preliminary engineering and additional right-of-way acquisition. In November 2024, the City completed the necessary steps with the FRA to accept the funding and begin these necessary project steps.
The total estimated cost to complete this portion of the project design and acquire right-of-way is $30,481,000. Local funding tow...
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