Ambitious Denver Rail Project on Track

Despite being over budget, FasTracks Denver’s ambitious plans to build a regional rail system seem to be on track for now.

Crews have built most of the road bed for the West Corridor Light Rail Line that will connect Downtown Denver and the western suburbs of Lakewood and Golden. Several bridges for the project including a very impressive span that will take the trains over the Six Avenue Freeway at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood are now in place. Work is also proceeding on a tunnel that carry the trains under Interstate 70 and allow them to reach Western Golden.

Work to convert Denver’s old railroad hub Union Station into a commuter rail terminus is also underway. Crews are moving utility lines and tearing up track and concrete in an effort to clear space for new platforms for commuter trains and move the light rail hub.

Plans call for Union Station to be the starting point for the Northwest Corridor Diesel commuter rail line to Boulder and Longmont, the East Corridor electric commuter rail line to Denver International Airport, the Gold Line electric commuter rail line to the suburb of Arvada, the North Corridor commuter rail to the northern suburbs and the West Corridor. The Regional Transit District also wants to build a new underground bus station at Union Station.

FasTracks will also contain an expansion of Denver’s existing light rail lines. The Southeast Corridor light rail line will be extended to I-70 in Aurora and Lonetree to the South while the Southwest Corridor will be extended to Highlands Ranch south of the C470 freeway.

Design work on the new light rail and commuter lines is about to begin now that the Environmental Impact Statements for most of the new rail lines have been approved. The approval of the EIS’s clears the ways for RTD to begin work on the new rail lines.



Design work on the rail lines should begin in the next few months. Actual construction on most of the rail lines will commence next year. The West Corridor is scheduled to open in 2013 while service on the other rail lines is supposed to begin in 2015 and 2016.

Construction maybe delayed by a lack of money. News reports indicate that FasTracks has a budget shortfall of $2-3 billion. RTD hasn’t figured out where the rest of the money is to come from but the agency’s board has ruled out a tax increase for now. Denver area voters already approved one sales tax increase when they approved FasTracks in 2004.

In related news Denver City officials announced plans to build a big new Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport. The Hotel would be located next to the new commuter rail station and cost $170 million. East Corridor rail design proposals on the RTD website show the hotel on top of the commuter rail station.

Whether the hotel will get built or not remains to be seen. A hotel at DIA has been on the drawing board since the late 1990s but it wasn’t built because of September 11. The Denver Post reports that Spanish architect Santiago CalatravaSantiago Calatrava has been hired to integrate the hotel and airport train station designs.