DENVER | Transportation Thread
I havent heard anything about the light rail in a while. Any updates? When will things start rolling for the westward lines and union station?
|
They have Billions of dollars and until 2017 / 2018? It's been almost 2 years already and not a damn thing yet!!!
I'd say maybe in 2010 you "MIGHT" see something start up? "MIGHT" being the Key word. :notacrook: GOD I wish Union Staion Partners would have been the chosen team, this is one of the most frustrating things taking place in this City. Or lack there of! It's a damn good thing there is 15+ Cranes in the City other wise I guarantee you every Denver forumer would be BITCHING about Union Station Daily!!! :hell: |
Quote:
|
They have been doing quite a bit work in the past two years, but it is not neccessiraly all visible work to you and I.
West corridor: • In early 2007, the West Corridor project team conducted an internal Value Engineering (VE) exercise to look at ways the project could be more efficient and cost-effective. As a result, FTA requested that an Environmental Assessment (EA) be completed to fully identify and document any impacts of VE. • By July 2007, final design reached 65 percent. • In summer 2007, removal of the old rail along the corridor was completed and utility relocation began. • RTD issued a Draft EA for public comment in fall 2007. A Finding of No Signifi cant Impact decision from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) was received in November 2007, with the Final EA issued in late 2007. • Major construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2008 with the line opening in 2013. (There was an article in the Post regarding the Kipling Street Light Rail bridge as one of the first to get underway) Union Station: Work is still being done on the Environmental Impact Statement and is expected to be complete this Fall. The last I heard is that visible work will begin late Fall or ealry next Spring. Lastly, the RFQ has been issued for all of the landscape/streetscape work. |
There is also a large presentation posted on www.denverunionstation.org with some new renderings of the future station and build out of surounding lots.
|
I Stand Corrected!!!
|
An interesting tidbit....
Just found out the plan to replace RTD's biggest bus garage, Platte Division... with its 500 plus buses, with the Commuter Rail Division, including maintenence (looks like this operation will be privitized). The RTD District Shops & Dispatch would stay where it is and RTD would build two medium sized bus garages, one on I-76 west of I-25. Although it is not a done deal, there is talk of Light Rail going north via The Denargo Market. There is no exact time table in place.
|
Thought I saw on the news a while ago somewhere out west they were relocating utilities at a location where they were going to lay track and somebody hit a water main and it flooded a man's house
|
Quote:
|
RTD can't do anything about the timeliness of the studies b/c the federal government requires heavily intense environmental planning on all funded projects. Yes it is politics, but much of it is political because of the past - transportation projects that damaged the environment, killed wildlife habitat, destroyed historic structures & made negative social impacts on minorities & economically depressed areas. It's a pain - but it's better to get it done right the first time.
|
Quote:
Or, perhaps they are people like me (although I'm not contractually involved in any aspect of the DUS project) who are passionate about urban planning and development and who are trying to do the best they can with an incredibly exciting yet challenging project that was underfunded from the get-go by a couple hundred million dollars and that then experienced unprecedented construction cost increases and unexpected rulings from government agencies that created a massively complex engineering/financial puzzle that was finally solved only a few months ago and is now working toward actual design and construction, pending, of course, all of the necessary local, state, and federal regulatory hurdles that need to be addressed, public involvement expectations, pressures from labor and other special interest groups, a national recession, uncertain real estate markets, and fucked-up financial markets. |
Quote:
The only thing I'm not sure about is how much of this delay is a result of the federal funding deal. |
I wonder how much money developers and property owners of the area surrounding union station would be willing to pay towards the light rail project and union station redevelopment if those puny height restrictions would be removed.
I still can't believe that a majority of the area surrounding the transportation hub of Denver will be limited to 20 stories. |
Quote:
|
Hey Ken, what is your opinion on this giant hole over the train shed where people wait for their trains? I'm seeing the pictures but I don't get it. If the answer is: well we have a view plane, then the view plane has got to go. If the other answer is: we have some little coverings, I still don't get it. This is supposed to be the center of the transit system with thousands and thousands passing through every day right? It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Your illumination would be appreciated.
|
Quote:
I actually like what they've done with everything else. I didn't at first, but I have studied the plans in detail and have found them to be a very efficient and effective design which will be a success. |
The new diagrams make it look like a european style canopy with no hole. Check out the site HigherHigher mentions a few posts back.
|
At the last EIS BOG meeting I attended, they specifically said the canopy is a placeholder only. It has not been designed, but they need to show something in the renderings otherwise people will say "what, aren't you going to have any shelter/protection out there?". Plus they also had to have something to put in the line item in the budget.
RTD has a requirement that a certain percentage (I think it's 40% or something like that) of the platform area have shelter. The view plane is also an issue. Directly in the center of the station in line with the big windows is likely to be no canopy at all. There seems to be a very strong desire in the community to not block the view of the station from down 17th Street. The Union Station project isn't really "delayed" that much anyway. If you look in the original FasTracks plan, there was several years put in place for all that has or is yet to transpire: selection of the master developer, refinement of the plan, completing the EIS, costing out and doing the design, then at least four years of construction. Keep in mind that under the current timetable, the commuter rail station will be completed for at least two years before the first commuter rail train arrives. |
Quote:
|
I hadn't actually had any impression that any of the projects were delayed at all. I didn't expect to see any real construction until the end of this year. I thought there ware several years lead time built into this.
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 12:39 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.