Quote:
Originally Posted by Denver Dweller
|
More Colorado humor.
The unbelievably simple graffic with Union Station in the Center, to start... If all implied was so simple.
Scarios 1,2, and 5 go through DUS.
In Scenarios1 and 2 the north-south connection towards Colorado Springs goes through DUS?/Lodo? That option- effectively destroyed by the DUS complex layout*- would involve many billions just to go the couple of kilometers through the DUS Complex (now being rapidly 'nailed shut' by commercial and residencial build out.)
Will new freight lines be built at tax payer expense for UP and BNSF to bypass metro Denver (except for late night windows for coal trains, etc., to supply local Denver users)? That would resolve the north south issue. However, how many billions of dollars over and above the costs of all the simplistic schemes illustrated would such a bypass involve? After all, UP and BNSF will view this as an income making opportunity, not as a sacrifice required for public need...
Scenarios 2,3,4, and 5 implicitly recognize the cost of the stub station layout of the poorly executed Lodo complex, and, bypass the DUS complex to go south.
Where would the 'rail beltway' 'T' into the existing (mostly) double tracked southbound rail connection to Colorado Springs? Would the new rail line follow E and C-470? If so, what would the costs be between I-25 and US 85, with it's abundant steep grades and low radius turns? If not on this route, where would the alignment go, south of E-470? Would new right of way be purchased parallel to Colorado 83 and where would this line 'T' into the existing trackage in (or near) Colorado Springs? How many billions would this cost?
*********
IMO, discounting the silliness of the I-70 HSR (develope existing tracks on the Moffat tunnel route to handle pendulum bogied trains, electrify the route, use regenerative braking to feed a battery car, etc.), that north-south HSR through Denver needs to bypass Lodo, to provide SAME SEAT transport and far faster through metro Denver transit times. A 2nd, large rail station will need to be built north of downtown (not at DIA, but a shorter commute time wise from Denver), a solution that has been done multiple times to correct downtown rail planning mistakes (and/or when tracks have to be placed through already developed downtowns) overseas.
The entire West HSR concept along I-70 is ludricrous. A new tunnel, incredibly steep grades on the approach from the West, and, few real uses beyond the seasonal ski industry make this a non-starter. Consequently, the idea will be discussed frequently and with apparent seriousness, as building a HSR along this alignment will never occurr and the concept is politically safe and cheap to talk about.
*few innocent parties here- this potential problem was expressed thousands of times by powerless people, and, now we are stuck with the future implications. This is tragedy that will affect metro Denver transport for many decades. And, of course, NO ONE is apologizing.
Prev
Linear Mode
