DENVER | Transportation Thread

[SirLucasTheGreat]

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/n...lots-sold.html

Pepsi sold two parking lots near 38th and Blake station to Carmel, who is looking to submit a site development plan later this year. That seems pretty significant.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by The FasTracks update TakeFive posted

CORRIDOR	RIDERSHIP	COST	COST/RIDER
Central		3200		$140M	$ 44k
North extension	3100		$280M	$ 90k
NW		4100		$1.5B	$366k    <------- !!!!!
SW extension	3700		$170M	$ 46k

4,100 riders

NW is almost an order of magnitude less efficient than the others. It's less than 1/5 the ridership of Colfax buses. Less than 1/3 Flatiron Flyer ridership. Significantly less than even Boulder's local SKIP bus. And they want to spend $1.5 billion on it.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

4,100 riders

NW is almost an order of magnitude less efficient than the others. It's less than 1/5 the ridership of Colfax buses. Less than 1/3 Flatiron Flyer ridership. Significantly less than even Boulder's local SKIP bus. And they want to spend $1.5 billion on it.

Bu, Bu, But by 2050 there's a really real chance that ridership estimates should double.

None of these options make much sense, really, except perhaps the central corridor assuming it's still wanted.

Originally Posted by twister244

I still think RTD, and local municipalities should invest more in true BRT. It can work just as well as the train, at a fraction of the cost. With Bustang continuously exceeding ridership expectations, I don't see why this isn't explored more.

Both Bustang and the Flatiron Flyer demonstrate the appeal of a more upscale express bus service. Neither feel like 'mass' transit. I assume it's the much nicer 'coaches' that is half the appeal. Next up in this category is BRT-lite along the Boulder - Longmont Diagonal.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by twister244

I still think RTD, and local municipalities should invest more in true BRT. It can work just as well as the train, at a fraction of the cost. With Bustang continuously exceeding ridership expectations, I don't see why this isn't explored more.

I've had some fun debates on behalf of BRT with a blog buddy in Phoenix. He grew up in NYC and he has no interest in BRT; has to be a train. He, like a lot of people would MUCH prefer to ride the rails. I can appreciate his thinking.

I'd conclude it depends on context. What Denver/RTD is planning for E Colfax is a splendid use of BRT. I especially like the center-running lanes through the denser area of Cap Hill before the buses will then move to curbside service. BTW, in a few more months we can celebrate the third decade of trying to accomplish this project.

Federal Blvd would seem to provide the same opportunity as Colfax. Beyond those streets it gets trickier (outside of downtown itself). It's much harder to justify dedicated lanes if other than for Rush Hours, buses are only needed infrequently. BAT lanes (especially downtown) might be an option in some cases. Over time and if one new BRT route is added every decade then maybe in a couple of decades it will be much different.

[Zmapper]

I pulled up DEN gate usage on flightstats.com

The six new "temporary" A gates (A71-A81, odds only) have been restriped as nine new gates, A71-A87). United's regional partner Skywest is using them fairly intensively for its CRJ200 flights. This is most likely in preparation for the temporary loss of gates in the eastern end of the B concourse as those gates are reconstructed in the coming years.

United continues to use C38, and has expanded its use of A33-A37 odds as the airline just doesn't have enough room on the B concourse for all of its flights. Delta and American are also sending more of their domestic flights over from their full gates into the "common use" international gates A33-A47. Frontier has expanded in practice from just its 8 dedicated gates to 11, with flights out of A52, A54 (renumbered from A56?) and A60 (the last two gates are ground gates).

Even after all of the concourse expansions are complete, I expect United to use part of the A concourse as the B concourse will have no room for further expansion henceforth.

[The Dirt]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Bu, Bu, But by 2050 there's a really real chance that ridership estimates should double.

Why would they? Boulder has actually shrunk in recent years, and virtually all municipalities along this corridor are anti-growth. This includes Boulder, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield (land-locked but some greenfield development along US-36 - NOT the NW rail corridor), and Westminster (although their town center may generate some ridership despite also being next to a major FF corridor stop).

[trubador]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Why would they? Boulder has actually shrunk in recent years, and virtually all municipalities along this corridor are anti-growth. This includes Boulder, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield (land-locked but some greenfield development along US-36 - NOT the NW rail corridor), and Westminster (although their town center may generate some ridership despite also being next to a major FF corridor stop).

did they modify the plans to add a stop at the Wesminster town center? Based on the map below, they would go right past it and have a stop near the Wesminster Promenade.

http://www.rtd-denver.com/img/fastra...-northwest.jpg

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by The Dirt

Why would they? Boulder has actually shrunk in recent years, and virtually all municipalities along this corridor are anti-growth. This includes Boulder, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield (land-locked but some greenfield development along US-36 - NOT the NW rail corridor), and Westminster (although their town center may generate some ridership despite also being next to a major FF corridor stop).

Very good question; I didn't even give it a thought.
In any case, 30 years from now I'd expect the NW route will still be a bottom priority.

Originally Posted by Zmapper

I pulled up DEN gate usage on flightstats.com

The six new "temporary" A gates (A71-A81, odds only) have been restriped as nine new gates, A71-A87). United's regional partner Skywest is using them fairly intensively for its CRJ200 flights. This is most likely in preparation for the temporary loss of gates in the eastern end of the B concourse as those gates are reconstructed in the coming years.

United continues to use C38, and has expanded its use of A33-A37 odds as the airline just doesn't have enough room on the B concourse for all of its flights. Delta and American are also sending more of their domestic flights over from their full gates into the "common use" international gates A33-A47. Frontier has expanded in practice from just its 8 dedicated gates to 11, with flights out of A52, A54 (renumbered from A56?) and A60 (the last two gates are ground gates).

Even after all of the concourse expansions are complete, I expect United to use part of the A concourse as the B concourse will have no room for further expansion henceforth.

Thanks for the info; DIA (DEN) is so amazing.

By the time this gate expansion is completed along with the Great Hall and new security check-in I'd guess it will be time to seriously start exploring building a new terminal.

There's also plans to widen Pena Blvd with a reconfigured interchange at Jackson Gap Street. They also plan a free-flowing turn lane that will make it easier for drivers to return to the airport from outbound Peña. Denver Post has the coverage.

[TakeFive]

With the election of Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado is in good hands.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by Zmapper

Even after all of the concourse expansions are complete, I expect United to use part of the A concourse as the B concourse will have no room for further expansion henceforth.

Freaks me out when I get dropped at C. And I have gotten off the train at B without even realizing my plane was on C. Does give me the opportunity to look down on the Southwest flyers, though.

[TakeFive]

Source

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1969 AT RTD’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!
Posted on 06.25.19

Join us for RTD’s 50th Anniversary Celebration!

• When: Friday, July 12 from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm
• Where: Union Station Plaza (17th & Wynkoop)

As a thank you to our community, please come out and enjoy food, fun, and entertainment with a throwback twist! We’ll have food trucks, a band, giveaways, interactive displays, a commemorative photo booth, and more as we celebrate 50 years of moving people.

[mishko27]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

The outlier

Prior to tonight I knew next to nothing about her but I'd love to see a debate between Trump and Tulsi Gabbard.

And this relates to transportation in Denver how exactly?

[trubador]

does anyone know why the N line doesn't stop at 38th and Blake?

[PLANSIT]

Originally Posted by trubador

does anyone know why the N line doesn't stop at 38th and Blake?

It doesn’t go to 38th and Blake.

[EngiNerd]

Originally Posted by trubador

does anyone know why the N line doesn't stop at 38th and Blake?

Red is B Line, Green is N Line...N line doesn't go through 38th and Blake.

[Agent Orange]

So much office momentum at 38th and Blake. And yet, from a transit standpoint, it’s a bit of a pain to get to compared to the CBD/Lodo since it requires a transfer for most of the metro (unless you live in Stapleton or GVR) that comes at best once every 15 minutes. In 5-8 years, I'll be real curious on what the transit mode share is for workers in this area. If I worked there, I'd probably want to live in one of the residential areas in the Five Points, North City Park, Park Hill corridor. I feel this part of Denver is going to go into gentrification overdrive, which will be painful for some because it is so underzoned.

I’m not sure how I feel about opportunity zones. I know there was some good intent behind the idea, but I wonder how history will judge it in 15-20 years. Is this yet another top-down government intervention in the market for urban land use which will have unintended repercussions for generations? Is it healthy for state governments to choose which neighborhoods are “winners and losers” with arbitrary lines on a map? Will these schemes unnaturally accelerate displacement in vulnerable neighborhoods? If Denver is any indication, will OZ's have a decentralizing effect on employment centers?

[SnyderBock]

Originally Posted by EngiNerd

Red is B Line, Green is N Line...N line doesn't go through 38th and Blake.

I wish RTD would add a station between Union Station and 38th on A Line, between Union Station and 48th on N Line and between Union Station and 41st on G/NW Line.

For the A Line, a station over Broadway would serve the urban areas void of easy transit right into neighboring Union Station, LoDo and CBD. It would serve the area bordered by Coors Field to 32nd Street and from Atkins Ct to Lawrence St (which includes the entire lower RINO area).

For the N Line, perhaps one day a station at 31st Street on the north side of the Platte, once RINO builds out.

For the G Line, perhaps a station under the Wewatta elevated intersection area, with elevators to make a pedestrian connection up to the elevated intersection of Wewatta, 22nd, Delagony, Park Ave , as well as at-grade pedestrian connections into the Prospect Neighborhood.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

I wish RTD would add a station between Union Station and 38th on A Line, between Union Station and 48th on N Line and between Union Station and 41st on G/NW Line.


For the A Line, a station over Broadway would serve the urban areas void of easy transit right into neighboring Union Station, LoDo and CBD. It would serve the area bordered by Coors Field to 32nd Street and from Atkins Ct to Lawrence St (which includes the entire lower RINO area).

For the N Line, perhaps one day a station at 31st Street on the north side of the Platte, once RINO builds out.

For the G Line, perhaps a station under the Wewatta elevated intersection area, with elevators to make a pedestrian connection up to the elevated intersection of Wewatta, 22nd, Delagony, Park Ave well as at-grade pedestrian connections into the Prospect Neighborhood.

This seems rather foolish as none of these stops hit at anything close to a major node. The A line stop is physically cut-off from most of the neighborhoods serving it, the G Line is so damn close to Union Station that you can walk to it, and the N Line stop is between RTD's bus garage and the BNSF train yards. None of these are convenient, nor do they connect these neighborhoods together.

A better solution would be a bus route along Wewatta/Derango/Artkins Court from the Auraria to the the NWSS.

[SnyderBock]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

This seems rather foolish as none of these stops hit at anything close to a major node. The A line stop is physically cut-off from most of the neighborhoods serving it, the G Line is so damn close to Union Station that you can walk to it, and the N Line stop is between RTD's bus garage and the BNSF train yards. None of these are convenient, nor do they connect these neighborhoods together.

A better solution would be a bus route along Wewatta/Derango/Artkins Court from the Auraria to the the NWSS.

I do like that suggestion. Do you not ever see a need to at least add an A Line Station where it crosses over Broadway? Of the 3 I suggested, this one seems like it could become the most useful.

Also, what about the Central corridor extension streetcar proposal? once that is built, how about running it from 38th station down say Blake or Larimer or something like that, back down towards Union Station and then maybe back up 14th and tying it all in as a central corridor loop streetcar? Then supplement that with some well branded bus routes

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

I do like that suggestion. Do you not ever see a need to at least add an A Line Station where it crosses over Broadway? Of the 3 I suggested, this one seems like it could become the most useful.

bcp and others in the business community lobbied for this early on. It was looked at and dismissed, I believe in large part because the electric CRT technology/rolling stock just doesn't work well with stops at that frequency.