DENVER | Transportation Thread

[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Only if you throw in a Tokyo rookie.

Woah woah hold up. Rookie cards? From which era?

[TakeFive]

Let's see if we can wake-up bunt

Here's hoping that CDOT doesn't end up with the kind of (liberal) cranky judge that the Purple Line did. Although in that case it would be a cranky conservative judge I guess.

The legal points made by those who are criticizing the judge are very interesting.

Judge’s Legal Logic Questioned After Latest Ruling in Purple Line Case
2017.05.23 by ANDREW METCALF - Bethesda Magazine

Law professor says Judge Richard Leon did what Supreme Court has warned judges not to do by substituting his judgment for that of a federal agency

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Let's see if we can wake-up bunt

Here's hoping that CDOT doesn't end up with the kind of (liberal) cranky judge that the Purple Line did. Although in that case it would be a cranky conservative judge I guess.

The legal points made by those who are criticizing the judge are very interesting.

Judge’s Legal Logic Questioned After Latest Ruling in Purple Line Case
2017.05.23 by ANDREW METCALF - Bethesda Magazine

Oh Purple Line...

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Oh Purple Line...

Oh, so you like Purple...



Courtsy CDOT

I'm dying to learn who wins the P3 competition.
It's amazing to think that the four finalists were selected back in July of 2015; almost two long, sweaty years ago. I did see where the final, final, final RFP was given in March though with a decision expected over the summer - we hope.

[TakeFive]

Seriously, I want a sexy bus to ride

Metro’s bus-ridership dip must be addressed now
05/25/17 By The Editorial Board, LA Daily News

That’s why it’s good to hear that, in response 2 Comments that show the number of people using buses throughout the Metro system fell 18 percent in April as compared with the same month two years ago, the transit agency will investigate what it can do better to get riders back onto its buses.

L.A. bus ridership continues to fall; officials now looking to overhaul the system
May 23, 2017 by Laura J. Nelson - Los Angeles Times

As ridership on Southern California’s largest bus network has dropped steadily over the last few years ... attributed the drop to factors beyond its control ... Now, transportation officials are considering another explanation for why riders have stopped taking buses: The service isn’t good enough.

Metro rider decline blamed on 24/7 track work, other factors
May 10, 2017 By Max Smith - WTOP News

WASHINGTON — Metro ridership continues to decline across all times of day and days of the week, according to documents to be presented Thursday to the Metro Board of Directors.

Miami-Dade shrinking Metrorail hours as ridership dips

As transit ridership drops, Miami-Dade wants to cut bus stops and outsource routes

Reduced bus service starts Monday

Bettendorf changes bus routes amidst ridership drop


The challenge for designing and maintaining good bus service is changing.

[TakeFive]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/05/3...e-tech-center/

“We’re going to need about 100 tons of asphalt. That asphalt is ready to go,” CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt said about repairing the highway. “We’ve got the crews in place … we’re asking for your patience as we deal with this extraordinary situation.”

(credit: CBS)

[TakeFive]

This is the Big Day
(sort of)

Latest post by David Sachs, Streetsblog adds some interesting detail. I knew I didn't have the whole story. The Executive Committee is parked on a number of $140 million for the backlog of road maintenance etc but the Hancock administration (now) says it needs $177.2 million. Per Sachs: http://denver.streetsblog.org/2017/0...hopping-block/

That jump in unspecified maintenance spending was too large for some executive committee members. They asked city staffers for a more detailed breakdown of what that money would pay for before Friday’s final recommendations.

In addition, Friday's (today) meeting still needs to pare about $200 million in projects among all committee recommendations to come up with their final list of recommended projects.

[LooksLikeForever]

There are some new renderings for the $1b+ renovation of the Jeppesen Terminal at DIA in the Denver Post today: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/02...al-renovation/

There was also a YouTube video with some 3D renderings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHbxv_Wqedk

My question is: who will spend time in the great hall shopping and dining if they're flying out of the B or C gates, where it could be a 30 minute trip for slow walkers. Once people go through security they'll probably want to find their gates immediately and find dining close to their departure, not the main hall.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeForever

There are some new renderings for the $1b+ renovation of the Jeppesen Terminal at DIA in the Denver Post today: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/02...al-renovation/

There was also a YouTube video with some 3D renderings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHbxv_Wqedk

My question is: who will spend time in the great hall shopping and dining if they're flying out of the B or C gates, where it could be a 30 minute trip for slow walkers. Once people go through security they'll probably want to find their gates immediately and find dining close to their departure, not the main hall.

Niiiicccceee.!.!.!.!

The Denver Business Journal also has more detail in their coverage. For an even better breakdown from DEN, there's an easy-to-scroll through pdf.

Key bullet points from the pdf:

• Increases capacity of terminal from 50 to more than 80 million annual passengers (2031-2032) based on 65% origin & destination
• Decreases vulnerability in terminal
• Increases throughput at security checkpoints by 50% to 70%
• Upgrades and replaces critical systems (mechanical, electrical)
• Upgrades facility (escalators, elevators, restrooms, ticketing and screening technology)

Pretty cool video and the first comment (from James) was a lengthy critique that expressed some of the same concern about the Great Hall.

[Zmapper]

Two observations:

1. Post-construction, the unsecured area will be separated from the secured Great Hall by only a balcony. While it looks like there is a decently tall glass wall on the balcony edge and one may hope for good security observations, it looks rather easy for someone up to no good to throw prohibited materials over the barrier and into the secured area.

2. Are there any plans to add more gates? Personally, I'd revamp the central area of Concourse A in order to create more CBP-equipped gates. The current number of international gates is inadequate; kludges like connecting Gate A46 to the CBP checkpoint involve passengers travelling up to a glass corridor in an area architecturally intended to be open, crossing over the A Concourse main walkway, and then descending to the CBP level.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Zmapper

2. Are there any plans to add more gates? Personally, I'd revamp the central area of Concourse A in order to create more CBP-equipped gates. The current number of international gates is inadequate; kludges like connecting Gate A46 to the CBP checkpoint involve passengers travelling up to a glass corridor in an area architecturally intended to be open, crossing over the A Concourse main walkway, and then descending to the CBP level.

DEN apparently has requests for 30 additional gates by 2020 from the airlines. Not sure where etc.

[TakeFive]

Denver’s 2017 GO bond has been whittled down to $749 million in recommended projects
June 5, 2017 by Erica Meltzer - Denverite
Erica does a really nice job of summarizing the Executive Committee decisions although the list has not yet been made available. A few highlights:

More than 3,000 project proposals worth some $4 billion have been winnowed down to fewer than 50 projects worth roughly $749 million.

This process isn’t over yet. The executive committee needs to double-check its math and do some other clean-up work before sending its recommendations to Hancock later this month.

Transportation projects are a top priority for city leadership.
The mayor’s stance spared transportation and mobility projects in the final round of cuts...As Mayor Michael Hancock had requested, transportation projects account for half the bond program [including] $100 million to address deferred maintenance on city roads and bridges (down from an estimated $177 million need).

Now what?

After Hancock makes his own adjustments to the bond package, it will go to City Council. The executive committee set their target with the idea that City Council would add in as much as $50 million in additional spending.

[TakeFive]

Credit Classroom Clipart


A H/T to bunt's wisdom and clairvoyance which should mean TOD will soon take off like a rocket.

As a warm-up act anyone want to guess which suburban community has 3 new rail stops coming in their still developing vibrant, walkable, mixed-use community?


Credit: STEPHANIE MASON -Lone Tree Voice

The vision: a place to live, work and play

[CharlesCO]

Now that the Great Hall project details have been made public, I am a little more optimistic about the project. At least the way the floorplans are drawn, it looks like they really could have more space using the almost-entire width of level six over the current setup using only part of level five.

I also didn't really like the idea of putting a lot of concessions airside in the Great Hall. On the other hand, there are already plenty of concessions in the Great Hall now, but they are landside (pre-security) and nobody ever seems to go to them. Do any of you? There's probably a greater chance someone would grab a cup of coffee at a café that was airside in the Great Hall than at the current Caribou on level six that's pre-security. They would really get a lot more revenue if DIA were oriented the way Heathrow is (another airport Ferrovial did) with mostly/all common use gates and gate announcements only assigned or announced a few minutes before boarding. But oh well.

I still think the concessions and interiors of the concourses are in more need of attention than the Great Hall though. The Great Hall has always been a beautiful building, still is, and always will be, even though it would be a shame to see those beautiful granite floors ripped out. But none of the concourses have ever been anything special from day one, and they're really starting to look long in the tooth.

[DenverInfill]

I like the DIA plan. It's pretty common in other international airports to enter a large retail area after clearing security. That's what will happen after the redo. Also, something I noticed but no one has brought up yet (either here or in any article in the media) is that this plan will remove the north bridge that spans across the great hall.

If you recall, the great hall is divided into thirds by two bridges that span across connecting Level 6. The south bridge closest to the hotel/transit center will stay, and that will become the dividing line between the secure/non-secure parts of the hall. The escalators on the north side of the bridge going down to Level 5 will be removed and a glass wall will be installed. Below the bridge will also be some kind of barrier to separate the secure and non-secure areas. But look closely at the floor plans in the presentation available on the DBJ website and on the video, and you'll see that the north bridge is gone entirely.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by CharlesCO

But none of the concourses have ever been anything special from day one, and they're really starting to look long in the tooth.

I agree, the airport used to have a modern feel but now just feels dated which it is being a product of the 90's. I was at SFO recently and the renovations there are wonderful, something like that would work well at DEN. There is already a lot of good natural light and high ceilings to work with just need newer finishes and more concession areas like the Concourse C expansion.

[Octavian]

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

I like the DIA plan. It's pretty common in other international airports to enter a large retail area after clearing security. That's what will happen after the redo. Also, something I noticed but no one has brought up yet (either here or in any article in the media) is that this plan will remove the north bridge that spans across the great hall.

If you recall, the great hall is divided into thirds by two bridges that span across connecting Level 6. The south bridge closest to the hotel/transit center will stay, and that will become the dividing line between the secure/non-secure parts of the hall. The escalators on the north side of the bridge going down to Level 5 will be removed and a glass wall will be installed. Below the bridge will also be some kind of barrier to separate the secure and non-secure areas. But look closely at the floor plans in the presentation available on the DBJ website and on the video, and you'll see that the north bridge is gone entirely.

A DenverInFill write up would be great. There are some detailed floorpans in in the presentation available at flydenver (same as the one at DBJ). I e-mailed DIA to see if I could get a high resolution image of these (where you can read the text) but have not heard back. Maybe if someone with more clout got in touch with them

[zerkman]

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

I like the DIA plan. It's pretty common in other international airports to enter a large retail area after clearing security. That's what will happen after the redo. Also, something I noticed but no one has brought up yet (either here or in any article in the media) is that this plan will remove the north bridge that spans across the great hall.

If you recall, the great hall is divided into thirds by two bridges that span across connecting Level 6. The south bridge closest to the hotel/transit center will stay, and that will become the dividing line between the secure/non-secure parts of the hall. The escalators on the north side of the bridge going down to Level 5 will be removed and a glass wall will be installed. Below the bridge will also be some kind of barrier to separate the secure and non-secure areas. But look closely at the floor plans in the presentation available on the DBJ website and on the video, and you'll see that the north bridge is gone entirely.

I did notice that. And removing the elevators on that bridge too.

What I'm confused about, looking at their very pixelated plans in the presentation, it looks like they might also be removing the escalators from level 5 to level 6 on the 1/3 and 2/3 hallways. If this is done, it might make it harder to get from level 5 to level 6.

I feel like the flow of being a passenger is going to be more difficult. If the East or West security wait isn't balanced, its going to be much more difficult to get from one side to the other. Right now, its pretty easy to stand on one of the bridges and evaluate if the North or South security has a lesser line. The fly-thru videos also seem to show that they're compartmentalizing the lines, so its also going to be difficult to see which line to proceed to once you've decided on East vs West.

Getting down to the Concourse train seems like an after-thought as well. I imagine that post security is going to be a mess with people "recombobulating", putting on shoes, etc. And then having to take two escalators between security and the train seems like a choke point.

Overall though, I do like the new design.

[mhays]

Balancing security is solved pretty easily...a readerboard or two.

[CharlesCO]

Originally Posted by zerkman

Getting down to the Concourse train seems like an after-thought as well. I imagine that post security is going to be a mess with people "recombobulating", putting on shoes, etc. And then having to take two escalators between security and the train seems like a choke point.

It's either an afterthought, or there's more to the project that they haven't revealed yet.

The original plan for the airport was to build out Concourses D and E to the north of C using the same train system with no changes to it. Now, DIA officials are saying the current train system wouldn't be able to extend that far and effectively serve each concourse. The trains would end up being a crush load all the time essentially.

The newer plan (and I think the one DIA officials currently prefer over some other proposals) is to build the two new concourses east and west parallel to the Jeppesen Terminal with a separate train system connecting them one level beneath the current train system. If that's the case, then there would have to be a new platform built beneath the current one and a redesign of the current platform. They haven't really yet announced more definite details about this plan, so that's why I think they aren't showing the train platforms yet in this terminal redesign.

There is definitely some near-term expansion stuff going on with the concourses though. On an aviation forum I frequent, it sounds like they're adding a few gates to one end of A, conversion of more gates into FIS gates in A, and more gates at the other end of B, perhaps being built as a rotunda (!). Haven't been able to find too many definite details in the press or anywhere else about any of these minor projects though.