DENVER | Transportation Thread

[PLANSIT]

First off, great photos - really liking how the Colfax Station turned out.

One point of clarification, the R-Line does have transit signal priority (TSP) through City Center Aurora. This is not to be confused with signal preemption (used by emergency vehicles).

Again, fantastic set. Thanks Ryan.

[seventwenty]

Thanks for the clarification, Plansit.

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

First off, great photos - really liking how the Colfax Station turned out.

One point of clarification, the R-Line does have transit signal priority (TSP) through City Center Aurora. This is not to be confused with signal preemption (used by emergency vehicles).

Again, fantastic set. Thanks Ryan.

Excellent, thanks for the clarification!

Thank you everybody for the kind words! I couldn't let this one slip like I did with the B-Line (even though I was in Los Angeles when it opened)

[wong21fr]

Great photos, Ryan, and we appreciate the tour.

Man, there are some real weirdos in some of those shots. Probably fitting for Aurora.

[DUPio]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Great photos, Ryan, and we appreciate the tour.

Man, there are some real weirdos in some of those shots. Probably fitting for Aurora.

Where?

[Cirrus]

Yay! Good work. Love to see this stuff. I can't decide if I like the Colfax station or not. I think I'd love it if the ends of the archway extended to the base. I do really like that color of that teal glass.

Originally Posted by RyanD

I couldn't let this one slip like I did with the B-Line (even though I was in Los Angeles when it opened)

[CastleScott]

This was a story in the Longmont TimesCall:
HomeLocal NewsStory
Longmont council wants RTD to put more money into FasTracks budget account
By John Fryar
Staff Writer

POSTED: 03/07/2017 10:57:35 PM MST | UPDATED: ABOUT 13 HOURS AGO

Dennis Jones and Tyler Gerson, 3, board the RTD B line rail at the Westminster Station in 2016.
Dennis Jones and Tyler Gerson, 3, board the RTD B line rail at the Westminster Station in 2016. (File photo)
Longmont's City Council voted Tuesday night to urge the Regional Transportation District to deposit about $134 million in savings the agency expects to achieve over the coming 23 years into a budget account that could only be spent on the RTD's FasTracks projects.

Once there, the agency would be expected to apply much of that FasTracks Internal Savings Account's money toward covering the costs of speeding up the improvements and other expenses needed to complete the RTD's FasTracks Northwest Rail Line to Longmont.

The $134 million is the total amount the RTD eventually expects to save in lower interest payments — at $6 million a year — after refinancing the federal loans it took out for its downtown Denver Union Station project.

The council resolution also urged other cities and counties along the Northwest Rail Line "to work closely with RTD to ensure the completion of the approved rail line by 2026," rather than 2040, as has been projected.

On Friday, RTD spokesman Scott Reed emphasized in an email that the agency did not receive any funds up front from the loan refinancing and that the projected $134 million in savings would be the total as of 2040.

Advertisement

Reed said other actions by the RTD board are expected to result in about $518 million being transferred to the FasTracks Internal Savings Account between 2031 and 2040, though he didn't say what those actions were.

Longmont council members did not discuss the resolution before voting unanimously to approve it, but several people expressed their frustrations with RTD during a public comment period at the start of Tuesday's meeting.

Paul Gibb, a Niwot resident who said he was a former Burlington Northern Railroad employee, said the trains could run faster and would have more passengers than the RTD concluded in a Northwest Area Mobility Study, and that it would cost a fraction of the transit agency's cost estimates "if we start small."

Gibb suggested that the RTD could finance completion of Northwest Rail by borrowing against the agency's future earnings.

"It just needs pressure from us," Gibb said.

Scott Brown, another Niwot resident, said it seemed to him that RTD officials have been "just dragging their feet."

Former Longmont Mayor Julia Pirnack said she was one of the metropolitan mayors who signed off in support of FasTracks and the sales tax voters were asked to approve in 2004 to pay for it.

In the years since, Pirnack said, Longmont-area residents have gotten "lots of excuses, lots of nothing."

Pirnack said transit users in this part of the agency's service area have been paying for FasTracks since 2004 but have seen their transit service decline and fares on many routes increase.

She urged the council to accept nothing less than the commuter rail service that the RTD promised in 2004.

"Don't let them change that," Pirnack said. She said the council shouldn't settle for partial service or believe that increased bus service to Denver would be the same as a train.

Pirnack said the council should seek the area's state lawmakers' assistance in seeking a state audit to determine how the RTD has been spending its FasTracks money — and should seek legal advice about whether local governments can sue the agency for non-compliance for the promised project.

On Wednesday night, State Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont, and Longmont resident Steve Szabo will host a public panel discussion about "why the FasTracks line to Longmont has not been completed and what options Longmont's community might have," according to an announcement from the Colorado House Democrats' staff.

John Fryar: 303-684-5211, [email protected] or twitter.com/jfryartc

[ddvmke]

Looks like there is finally something tangible out there for us to review for new transportation funding:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/08/colorado-lawmakers-transportation-deal/

Some positives to note:
1) Unless I'm reading it wrong, the "road" funding appears to be going in majority to local road/street improvements as opposed to highways
2) They're leveraging the future revenue for $3.5B in near-term funding
3) Spending will be transparent via a website - which could be good and bad given the potential NIMBY/YIMBY bickering to ensue

Some disappointments to note:
1) They appear to be shifting the burden for roads from drivers to the general populace through the registration fee reduction
2) The 70/30 roads to transit split is a disappointing considering the maintenance vs. ground-up requirements, but is to be expected I suppose
3) Doesn't appear to be anything limiting road expansion or incentives for increasing throughput through multiple modes as opposed to roads alone

EDIT: And with perfect timing from DenverUrbanism: http://denverurbanism.com/2017/03/denver...-denver-city-prefers-cowtown-part-5.html

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

First off, great photos - really liking how the Colfax Station turned out.

One point of clarification, the R-Line does have transit signal priority (TSP) through City Center Aurora. This is not to be confused with signal preemption (used by emergency vehicles).

Again, fantastic set. Thanks Ryan.

If it does, it does not appear to be working properly. Sitting at the Alameda crossing watching, the train - without fail - waits for the opposite-direct left turn signal to make its crossing. At best, the TSP is holding the left turn movement longer to allow the train to cross. That is simply not good enough. It was over a 3-minute wait. And 8 minutes from Alameda to Centerpoint.

Ryan's urnbanism post was quite friendly and overly generous to RTD. If you happened to be standing next to him while those photos were being taken, you would've heard a lot of swearing. From him, and other passengers on the train.

Let's not be led astray by the positive things we all like to say when a new transit line opens. The R line IS GOD AWFUL F'ING HORRIBLE, AN EMBARRASSMENT TO TRANSIT EVERYWHERE, AND WILL UNFORTUNATELY BE HELD UP AS CASE STUDY NUMBER 1 FOR WHY RTD SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO BUILD ANOTHER LIGHT RAIL LINE ANYWHERE EVER. And you can actually walk much of that stretch faster. I know, because I did it.

[The Dirt]

I would have preferred it if the line didn't jog east through Aurora's non-existent "downtown", but I understand why it was done politically. However, if the line continued straight along the highway and also didn't stop in the empty field 1/8 mile from the Colfax station, you've have much more sane transit time. In the future, when there's enough going on east of the Aurora mall, a local bus circulator or streetcar line could have achieved the same results.

PS: Alameda is ridiculously wide. Aurora really needs a pedestrian safety initiative.

[Cirrus]

A suburb-to-suburb line makes little sense there anyway. The whole thing was just to buy off Aurora during the FasTracks vote. Maybe RTD should've done it with an A-line spur, with one stop at Fitz/Colfax and one stop near Alameda.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by CastleScott

^ Great pics and post Ryan!!

Definitely well worth the wait.

Originally Posted by bunt_q

If it does, it does not appear to be working properly.

I wondered the same question.

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Let's not be led astray by the positive things we all like to say when a new transit line opens. The R line IS GOD AWFUL F'ING HORRIBLE, AN EMBARRASSMENT TO TRANSIT EVERYWHERE, AND WILL UNFORTUNATELY BE HELD UP AS CASE STUDY NUMBER 1 FOR WHY RTD SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO BUILD ANOTHER LIGHT RAIL LINE ANYWHERE EVER. And you can actually walk much of that stretch faster. I know, because I did it.

Looks like you had a robust breakfast.
Reply pending...

[Cirrus]

wat? no.


@rightlegpegged on twitter

[PLANSIT]

Install mistake. Getting fixed this summer. Relax.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

Install mistake. Getting fixed this summer. Relax.

Please tell me somebody lost their job.

[awholeparade]

Originally Posted by PLANSIT

Install mistake. Getting fixed this summer. Relax.

Are you kidding? Do you not see how bad this is?

[seventwenty]

I know we don't talk about Denver aviation much, but this was kinda badass.

Last day of Stapleton operations. United flyby of 757s (plus the camera plane)



Source: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CO/Airfields_CO_Denver_NE.htm#stapleton

A 2/27/95 photo (from the collection of Richard Van Lew, courtesy of Kevin Peterson) of a formation of 2 United Airlines Boeing 757s over Stapleton's terminal, on the last day of the airport's flight operations.

[seventwenty]

Back to present day stuff:

RTD proposes adding 2 G-Line stops to B-Line.

The B line passes through two stations which have already been completed but only have service on the G Line to Arvada. The G line is also finished but the Federal Railroad Administration won’t permit it to open until RTD can fix the problem with the crossing gates on the A and B lines. The G line has the same issue. In the meantime, two completed stations, 41st and Fox and Pecos Junction, sit empty but ready for riders.

RTD is proposing a system change which would have the B line making stops at these stations beginning on May 21st. This would only add four minutes to the trip. Trains from Union Station to Westminster would leave 12 minutes earlier. RTD also plans to add a later departure from Union Station to accommodate late night revelers, but . . . this additional train would leave Union Station at 11:09

[Cirrus]

Good. Skipping those stops is dumb. It might - might - make sense if/when the entire NW line out to Boulder & Longmont is running. But Westminster does not need an express shuttle. You can't have a major rail line with ridership in the hundreds.

[Scottk]

RTD is finally getting next stop?


Is it April fools day or something?!!?


https://www.rtd-denver.com/app/nextride