This ballot issue, which was supported by Conference President and Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb, secured a substantial 66 percent approval rate in the six-county region, an impressive result when compared to recent voter referenda elsewhere on rail and other major spending propositions. It is also significant that voters in the West, not generally considered strong public transportation advocates, approved a transit spending measure so forcefully. The margin of approval for the rail extension project even exceeded that of a statewide highway measure to provide an additional $1.7 billion for new highway projects, including a major reconstruction of the state's North/South Interstate, called I-25. Voters across Colorado approved the highway referendum by 62 percent.

Finally, another unique aspect of the election was the fact that two separate ballot measures were interconnected and yet relied on approval by two separate groups of taxpayers. Statewide approval of highway spending package was necessary to support funding for 26 highway projects across the state, including the widening of Interstate 25, and it affected the timing of the rail extension project. From the outset, the widening of I-25 and the rail extension project, known as the Southeast Corridor, were planned together, and now will be undertaken as one project, on an integrated schedule.

It is estimated that the rail extension by the year 2020 will be moving commuters and others from the Southernmost station, the Lincoln Avenue Station in Douglas County, to downtown Denver in 39 minutes, with the same auto trip projected to take 59 minutes.