Denver Union Station & FasTracks

[CastleScott]

Looks like RTD has a plan for a portion of the North Metro corridor, here the scoop from the Post:

TRANSPORTATION
New plan aims at bolstering FasTracks to Commerce City
POSTED: 01/23/2013 08:35:01 AM MSTBy Monte Whaley
The Denver Post


Regional Transportation District officials say they have a financial plan that will help build the FasTracks North Rail Line from Denver Union Station to 72nd Avenue in Commerce City sooner than expected.

In fact, if the plan moves along as expected — and local governments agree — RTD says it could release a Request for Proposal to build the North Metro rail line to 72nd Avenue within the next 10 months.

RTD said last year that without additional funding, the North Rail Line may not be finished until 2044, causing anger among residents and municipalities along the corridor.

But Tuesday night RTD General Manager Phil Washington told the RTD board of directors that the agency has identified three areas it could tap to help fund the project. They include refinancing three RTD debt issues at the current lower-than-issued rates to reduce payments, improve cash flow, and provide additional capacity under TABOR spending limits.

Washington said this approach will allow the agency to complete a needed segment of FasTracks without a tax increase. He will produce a formal plan for the board in February.

RTD is also looking at federal grants to complete the rest of the North Metro Line and seeking help from "partners" in the region to fund the needed 50 percent match — which is estimated to be about $250 million.

Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley

[RyanD]

Construction just keeps on going. I put up a large update on DenverInfill (http://denverinfill.com/blog/2013/01...pdate-110.html)


http://denverinfill.com/blog/2013/01...pdate-110.html


http://denverinfill.com/blog/2013/01...pdate-110.html


http://denverinfill.com/blog/2013/01...pdate-110.html

[CastleScott]

Heres a link courtesy of the Forumer Denver for the train and DIA airport hotel:
http://www.flydenver.com/aboutthepro...RI=tcm:8-47069

[balugajames]

http://www.flydenver.com/abouttheprogram

[RyanD]

This site changes every week.. The south end of the canopy has started to go vertical and, directly to the left, site prep has begun for the 21-story tower, 1650 Wewatta!


[My Photo]

[FrancoRey]

^ Ahh, Denver's own little slice of China. So much growth and construction! Thanks for the epic shot. Can't wait to see it in person next month. It will be even better in 2016 when it's all done!

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by FrancoRey

^ Ahh, Denver's own little slice of China. So much growth and construction! Thanks for the epic shot. Can't wait to see it in person next month. It will be even better in 2016 when it's all done!

It looks amazing up close and personal, so when you do come back, you'll love it. Hop on the 1900 16th Street parking garage if you want that shot.. Problem is they're going to start developing the apartments on top of that garage, rumor has it. So between 1650 Wewatta and that new development, I'm losing such a good angle. Oh well, it's all in the name of infill which I am totally okay with.

[CastleScott]

Some news on the Metro North Corridor:

Rail News: Passenger Rail
Denver RTD to review unsolicited contractor proposal for North Metro line
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver has received an unsolicited proposal for the North Metro Rail project, which is part of the agency's FasTracks program, RTD recently announced.

Graham Contracting Ltd. submitted the proposal, which will be evaluated for merit by agency staff as required under an unsolicited proposals policy, RTD officials said in a prepared statement.

If the proposal has merit, the agency will pursue a competitive procurement process and release a request for proposals consistent with RTD's policy and a previous announcement to release an RFP later this year.

Last month, RTD officials announced the agency would release an RFP later in 2013 to build the North Metro line by refinancing some of the agency's debt, issuing new sales tax bonds and using available local funds. Whether through the initial plan or unsolicited proposals, the agency will release an RFP for North Metro this year, RTD officials said.

The North Metro project involves the construction of an 18.4-mile electrified commuter-rail line that will connect Denver and Adams County by serving Commerce City, Northglenn and Thornton.

"We've been encouraging the industry to think outside the box and invest in our projects to get them done sooner rather than later, and this is yet another example of how the market is speaking," said RTD General Manager Phil Washington.

In March 2012, Kiewit Infrastructure Co. submitted an unsolicited proposal for the I-225 rail project, and, after a competitive process, was awarded the contract to design and build the line by the end of 2015.

FasTracks calls for building 122 miles of commuter- and light-rail lines, and 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, adding 21,000 new parking spaces and redeveloping Denver Union Station.



Keywords
Browse articles on Regional Transportation District on Progressive Railroading

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[SnyderBock]

2012 FasTracks year in review video!

• Video Link

[Dallas]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

2012 FasTracks year in review video!

• Video Link

Thanks for posting this. That looks like quite a project !!

[eleven=11]

the google map & wiki map is new/update !!!
wish i knew when this happens?
anybody know when other cities get new maps?

[bobg]

As the first completed FasTracks line the West Light Rail Line nears opening (April 26th) the media is starting to get some previews. Radio station KUNC posted this YouTube video yesterday showing the trip at 4 times the speed. The video starts at the first new station and doesn't cover the Union Station (terminus with already active light rail lines) to Decatur-Federal (first new station) stretch, but it's still pretty interesting to watch.

• Video Link

[ardecila]

Interesting. What's with the single track? That'll really cut down operations on the far end of the line. Some of the structures (retaining walls, tunnels) look primed for a future second track, but the flyovers are not.

The stations closer to downtown will have a full second track and should be able to support decent ridership, but they look like bedroom communities that won't support denser development. That means a lot of the ridership will come from growing suburbs with the space for TOD, like around the Federal Center.

[BrennanW]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Interesting. What's with the single track? That'll really cut down operations on the far end of the line. Some of the structures (retaining walls, tunnels) look primed for a future second track, but the flyovers are not.

The stations closer to downtown will have a full second track and should be able to support decent ridership, but they look like bedroom communities that won't support denser development. That means a lot of the ridership will come from growing suburbs with the space for TOD, like around the Federal Center.

The huge escalation in costs of the West Corridor as it began construction encouraged planners to reduce frequency from the Federal Center Station West to to 15 minute-frequencies. The tunnels were built with room for a second track and it showed to the city leaders they were willing to trim the project where they felt they could. I think they ended up saving quite a lot of money from that reduction.

[bobg]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Interesting. What's with the single track? That'll really cut down operations on the far end of the line. Some of the structures (retaining walls, tunnels) look primed for a future second track, but the flyovers are not.

The stations closer to downtown will have a full second track and should be able to support decent ridership, but they look like bedroom communities that won't support denser development. That means a lot of the ridership will come from growing suburbs with the space for TOD, like around the Federal Center.

It's hard to get a gauge on the residential portion between Lamar and Federal/Decatur by the video since the line resides in a trench for that stretch. Most of the trenched area is along streetcar suburb densities (very common in Denver) with a lot of low income multi-family added within walking distance from the 50's to 80's as the area declined. Federal/Decatur has a fair amount of TOD potential as outlined in some of the materials here Decatur-Federal

However you are right this line does not have a lot of TOD potential. Of all the lines being built I would venture to say this has the least TOD potential, but the flip side of that is I would also say it serves the most existing neighborhoods.

[ardecila]

The problem with streetcar suburbs is that they aren't usually dense enough to support a massive, $700M investment in transit.

The people who live near the stations have nice, tree-lined streets and sidewalks, and the neighborhoods are fairly walkable, but there just aren't enough people within walking distance of the station. You still need to do some aggressive TOD, or design a fairly extensive system of feeder buses.

Streetcar suburbs really only worked when the streetcar was the only means of transport, and when we could afford to build streetcar lines on every major street to give people easy access.

[mr1138]

I wouldn't say that this line doesn't have good TOD potential at all. Most of the stretch from Sheridan through Lakewood is already being primed for redevelopment. Many of the homes in there are not of a very high quality and much of the area has already been upzoned for more density. It is only two blocks south of Colfax, which is a major retail and traffic artery lined with auto-based retail that could easily be scraped and redeveloped, and everything in between could pretty much be redeveloped as well. This could potentially create an "arm" of decent density reaching well out into suburbia. Now we can easily debate whether or not all this development will actually come... but to say that the potential isn't there simply isn't true.

Here's a link to Lakewood's planning site for an idea of the area I'm talking about.
http://www.lakewood.org/Planning/Lak...rea_Plans.aspx

[DenverInfill]

And the Federal Center is one huge TOD waiting to happen.

[bobg]

Originally Posted by mr1138

I wouldn't say that this line doesn't have good TOD potential at all. Most of the stretch from Sheridan through Lakewood is already being primed for redevelopment. Many of the homes in there are not of a very high quality and much of the area has already been upzoned for more density. It is only two blocks south of Colfax, which is a major retail and traffic artery lined with auto-based retail that could easily be scraped and redeveloped, and everything in between could pretty much be redeveloped as well. This could potentially create an "arm" of decent density reaching well out into suburbia. Now we can easily debate whether or not all this development will actually come... but to say that the potential isn't there simply isn't true.

Here's a link to Lakewood's planning site for an idea of the area I'm talking about.
http://www.lakewood.org/Planning/Lak...rea_Plans.aspx

I agree that it's upzoned and can be redeveloped. But unlike other lines that we are building most of the stops are not near massive failing shopping centers/malls , declining industrial, brownfield, greenfield, and similar plots of land. So I guess I should clarify we do not have a lot of easy TOD opportunities along that corridor.

Personally I prefer densification occurring the way you described, but it is also harder, and going to be more piecemeal than along some of the other lines. With all the easier TOD opportunities we have elsewhere (and are still creating) it may thin out developers willing to go through the additional hurdles of piecing land together, potential NIMBY issues, etc. Unless of course the neighborhood(s) get hot/trendy like Highland did a decade ago.

[bobg]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The problem with streetcar suburbs is that they aren't usually dense enough to support a massive, $700M investment in transit.

The people who live near the stations have nice, tree-lined streets and sidewalks, and the neighborhoods are fairly walkable, but there just aren't enough people within walking distance of the station. You still need to do some aggressive TOD, or design a fairly extensive system of feeder buses.

Streetcar suburbs really only worked when the streetcar was the only means of transport, and when we could afford to build streetcar lines on every major street to give people easy access.

Yes streetcar suburban densities cannot support a multicar frequent LRT line like this based solely on those within walking distance. The West Rail line is heading E/W and is crossing frequent N/S bus service on Federal, Sheridan, and Wadsworth, and the Federal Center has been one of the busier bus hubs in the Metro area since before I was born. So the feeder network is expected to be substantial. Combined with park and ride, and the bike facilities I do not see an issue for ridership from that perspective. My bigger concern regarding ridership is that it only goes to one edge of downtown at Union station and not into the heart of our downtown like the other existing LRT corridors.