'' magazine The tunnel was conceived by
David Moffat of the
Denver, Northwestern, and Pacific (DNW&P) railroad as early as 1902. The original DNW&P tracks climbed
Rollins Pass with a series of switchback loops with a steep 4% grade and severe snow conditions. Snow removal on the original line made it unprofitable to operate. Moffat was unable to raise sufficient funds to build the tunnel before he died in 1911, but the forces behind the tunnel continued, and in 1914 a Denver bond issue was approved, financing two thirds of the construction cost of the tunnel. The issue was defeated in a court decision which ruled that Denver did not have the constitutional right to enter into a joint venture to construct the tunnel with a private corporation. In 1920, a bill was introduced in the state legislature to build three tunnels under
Monarch Pass,
Cumbres Pass, and Rollins Pass (the Moffat Route). The various regions of the state could not come to agreement, partly because the southern and southwestern regions feared that Denver would gain a new advantage in commerce from the Moffat Route. Blocking this legislation would ultimately backfire when Denver was finally able to secure financing for its tunnel. In early 1922, Denver's lawmakers in the state legislature found an opening. Pueblo had been devastated by a
flood, and Gov.
Oliver Henry Shoup called an emergency session of the legislature. Denver lawmakers now had power over Pueblo. They would vote for emergency funding for the beleaguered town (an economic rival to Denver) in return for legislation authorizing the issuance of bonds for Denver's tunnel. A deal was struck, and on April 29, the
Moffat Tunnel Improvement District was created. The district boundaries included the
City and County of Denver and all or portions of the counties traversed by the
Denver and Salt Lake Railway. The district had the authority to levy taxes and issue bonds backed by real estate within the district. The Colorado Supreme Court in November 1922 upheld the constitutionality of the law creating the district and its ability to issue bonds. The bonds were sold and construction began. The bonds were fully paid off in December 1983, but the commission continued to exist until 1998. It was finally disbanded after a series of political intrigues related to
Winter Park Resort, which was built partly on land owned by the commission (known as the Evans Tract). In 1988,
Rio Grande Industries, the company that controlled the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, purchased the
Southern Pacific Railroad. The combined company took the Southern Pacific name because of its name recognition among shippers. On September 11, 1996, owner
Philip Anschutz sold the combined company to the
Union Pacific Railroad in response to the earlier merger of the
Burlington Northern and the
Santa Fe which formed the
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. For many years, tunnel wastewater discharge, including coal dust and metal particles, has been a concern for
Grand County and the Water Quality and Control Division of the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). In 2008, the tunnel discharged an average of 30,000 gallons of wastewater into the Fraser River daily. The railroad was forced to build a wastewater treatment plant in 2017. In late July 2023, for a day-and-a-half, the nearby UP wastewater treatment plant released "400,000 gallons of untreated groundwater and industrial wastewater" into the Fraser River. ==Construction==