Work crews will close the east- and west-bound center lanes of the heavily traveled highway between the Simms/Union exit Indiana Street beginning April 11 to move the Colorado Department of Transportation sign. The sign is in the middle of the highway near the area of the entrance road to Red Rocks College.

Go to Lakewood Edge to see the entire article.

The transit agency’s enforcement officers issued violation notices to 7,178 people, up from 5,074 in 2008. In 2007, 3,174 citations were issued. A large number of those ticketed ignored the citations — and their attached court dates — which can result in a criminal conviction for theft and a night in jail, Denver court administrators say.

Of the total, 6,049 citations were issued in Denver County.

Go to the Denver Post to see the entire article.

The system sounds an alarm inside the operator’s cab and begins braking if the train passes a red signal along the tracks.

Go to the Denver Post to see the entire article.

Simulation shows a single light-rail car operating on Downing Street within the traffic lanes as part of the proposed Central Corridor Extension.

The smallest FasTracks corridor is less than a mile long, but it makes the connection between the RTD’s original light rail line and the proposed commuter rail corridor to Denver International Airport.

The Central Corridor Extension would run for nine-tenths of a mile up Downing Street from the original station at 30th Avenue to a new joint station with the East Corridor trains along Blake Street at 38th Street, where transfers could be made to the airport train.

The details are in an environmental evaluation on the estimated $67.3 million project that RTD released last month. You can read the entire document here. The transit agency is accepting public comments on it until Monday. You can fill out an online comment form here.

Single light-rail cars would run up and down Downing in traffic lanes with automobiles, like a streetcar system, unlike the layout of the rest of the downtown light rail tracks, which have an exclusive lane along California, Stout and Welton streets.

That means the Central Corridor Extension can be built without requiring any new right-of-way or property acquisition. It requires elimination of about 40 percent of the curbside parking along Downing, but that is less of an impact than giving the light rail its own lane.

Aerial photo shows the configuration of Downing Street from the existing 30th Avenue station northward, with light rail tracks embedded in the traffic lanes.

The proposal also includes two new stations, at 33rd and 35th streets, along with the new end-of line station at Blake.

Trains would operate on the same 15-minute schedule they now have, but RTD proposes to reconfigure the route. Instead of serving Five Points with the original D Line light rail, the Central Corridor Extension run on a loop every 15 minutes from the Blake station, down Downing, through Five Points on Welton and then through downtown on the loop along 19th, Stout, 14th and California streets.

A liight rail train waits at the Downing Station before starting a southbound trip.

The Central Corridor Extension has gone through several proposed alignments and alternatives, along with delays while RTD completed the environmental study on the East Corridor. At one time, RTD considered making the Welton line part of a streetcar loop that would have connected the new Blake station with Civic Center Station at Broadway and Colfax Avenue.

It also considered using low-floor streetcars – different vehicles from the light rail cars – on the line.

But cost considerations led the FasTracks team to propose using single light rail cars, which RTD already owns, for the new service.

Because the Central Corridor Extension is locally funded and doesn’t rely on federal grants, RTD was under no obligation to do a study. But the board several years ago decided to subject all of the 10 FasTracks corridors to similar levels of environmental study and efforts to mitigate impacts.

Map shows the proposed Central Corridor Extension north from 30th Avenue to Blake, and running through the existing downtown loop to 14th Street.

The Regional Transportation District will be conducting track maintenance on the mainline track near the Mariposa Facility Sunday morning, December 13, from 12:01 am to 1:00 pm Sunday afternoon. This will only affect the I-25/Broadway, Alameda and 10th/Osage Light Rail Stations. The rest of the light rail system remains in normal operation.

While the maintenance work is being performed, RTD will run shuttle buses between the I-25/ Broadway and 10th/Osage stations, also stopping at the Alameda Station. Light rail will be in normal operation south of the I-25 and Broadway station and north of the 10th and Osage Station.

Looking south on Sheridan Boulevard from around 12th Place, Dry Gulch crosses under a culvert. The road will be down to two lanes for two years for light rail bridge construction.

Two lanes, two years. Get ready, drivers, for what may be the West Corridor light rail project’s most inconvenient traffic impact.

Starting Monday night and lasting for about the next two years, four-lane Sheridan Boulevard between 10th and 14th avenues will be narrowed down to two lanes. If you can get through this, you can get through most anything FasTracks will throw at your drive over the next eight years.

The lane restriction was part of a trade-off that allowed RTD to stick its original plan to leave the FasTracks West Corridor tracks at ground level along the Dry Gulch valley while raising Sheridan on a bridge above the gulch.

On Monday night, Sheridan will be closed entirely overnight between 10th and 14th starting at 9 p.m. so that workers can set up the narrowed detour route, using the existing two northbound lanes on the east side of the street. The plan is to reopen to traffic at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday in the reduced configuration. Workers already have placed a new sidewalk along the east side of Sheridan as part of the detour work.

Two-lane traffic will stay on the east side until Lawrence Construction builds the southbound half of the Sheridan bridge to the west of the detour. At that point, two-lane traffic will be shifted to the southbound side while Lawrence completes the northbound bridge lanes.

Rendering of the Sheridan light rail station with Sheridan Boulevard raised on a new bridge over Dry Gulch.

Traffic counts by the Colorado Department of Transportation show an estimated 33,100 vehicles a day use this segment of Sheridan Boulevard. That’s about the same number that travel Colfax Avenue between Sheridan and Federal boulevards.

“We realize that this will be a tremendous inconvenience to the traveling public and we will do everything we can to complete construction in this area as quickly as possible,” said Kathy Berumen, spokeswoman for Denver Transit Construction Group. DTCG is RTD’s general contractor and construction manager for the civil construction of the West Corridor.

The suggested detour routes are Federal and Wadsworth boulevards.

The bridge will be a two-span structure with a total length of just over 265 feet from end to end. From the top of the light rail tracks to the underside of the bridge girders will be a clearance of 20 feet, three inches. Bridge construction is valued at $3.9 million.

Site plan for Sheridan Station showing the light rail under a new Sheridan bridge. Click on the picture to get a larger version.

This was pretty much the original West Corridor plan, to build the light rail tracks at grade along Dry Gulch as it crosses Sheridan. The gulch cuts a deep swale that drivers on Sheridan take like a roller coaster ride. A few blocks south, near Eighth Avenue, another big dip occurs where Lakewood Gulch crosses Sheridan.

Residents of the area liked the plan. The hill from 10th down to the gulch then up again toward 14th is hazardous especially in icy weather. Sight lines are poor. Raising Sheridan will mitigate those problems. Also, leaving the tracks on the ground while raising Sheridan would unite the open spaces on both sides – to the east it’s Denver’s Lakewood and Dry Gulch Park, on the west it’s open space in Lakewood. It allows the light rail station there to be in a park-like setting accessible by bike and pedestrians as well as motorists via a parking garage.

But RTD, faced with massive FasTracks cost increases in 2006, started looking for cuts through so-called “value engineering,” an exercise in finding different and less expensive ways to accomplish project goals. RTD brought in outside experts and used in-house staff to brainstorm cuts on the West Corridor. Flip-flopping the grade separation at the Sheridan crossing was a sizable savings. RTD estimated it could save more than $7 million if, instead of raising Sheridan on a bridge over Dry Gulch and the light rail tracks, it left Sheridan on the ground and simply bridged the light rail over the street.

Residents, Denver planners and Lakewood pushed back. RTD agreed to reconsider if a cost-neutral way could be found to reinstate the original design.

When CDOT was willing to waive a requirement that RTD maintain existing traffic flow during the construction period – combined with Denver providing some local park funds, RTD saved enough money to restore the original design.

Relieving the need to provide a four-lane detour through the construction zone allowed RTD to reduce the amount of real estate it would have to acquire by eminent domain alongside Sheridan for the temporary route. It also allowed for a reduction in traffic control costs.

Elevation rendering shows cross-section of Sheridan bridge looking north with the light rail station below it. Click on the picture to get a larger version.

Rendering shows the proposed FasTracks station at Sky Ridge in Lone Tree.

RTD intends to reinstate the G Line light rail, its only suburb-to-suburb rapid transit service, after it builds a 2.3-mile extension to the Southeast Corridor tracks into Lone Tree as part of the FasTracks program.

The line, which ran from Aurora’s Nine Mile Station at Parker Road and Interstate 225 south to the Lincoln Station, was eliminated earlier this year due to low ridership. But it would merit resumed service because in conjunction with the light rail extension up the Interstate 225 Corridor through Aurora, it would link the growing Fitzsimons medical campus on Colfax Avenue with the growing Douglas County area around Lone Tree and the RidgeGate area, including Sky Ridge Medical Center.

In between it would make stops at Aurora City Center, Parker Road, the Denver Tech Center, Park Meadows and the entire southeast business corridor. The operating plan is outlined in an environmental evaluation of the estimated $184.3 million Southeast Corridor Extension. That study and a companion one for the FasTracks I-225 extension indicate they would result in ridership increases of 17,600 and 17,900 per weekday, respectively.

You can read the executive summary for the Southeast Corridor Extension environmental evaluation here. The study found mostly construction-related impacts and outlines actions RTD will take to mitigate them.

The G Line would cover about 23 miles between RidgeGate and Fitzsimons. By 2035, RTD would operate trains every 15 minutes throughout the weekday.

In addition to the revived G Line, the Southeast Corridor Extension would also provide three more stations for the E and F Line trains that go to downtown Denver.

The Southeast Corridor Extension environmental evaluation was presented to the public Thursday night in the Lone Tree Recreation Center. You can view the presentation that was given at the meeting by clicking this link.

Simulation shows the proposed light rail flyover bridge over I-25 at RidgeGate in Douglas County

Starting at the current end-of-line at Lincoln Station, the double-track addition would run south around the Lincoln Avenue Interstate 25 interchange ramps and go over Lincoln on a bridge. After stopping at a new station near Sky Ridge Medical Center – a so-called “Kiss and Ride” because there would be no transit parking – the tracks would turn east and fly over I-25 to the east side into the Lone Tree City Center in the proposed RidgeGate planned development. There would be another Kiss and Ride station there as the tracks turn south, then proceed to a new end-of-line station called RidgeGate, where there would be a 1,000-car park-n-Ride facility.

You can view an interactive map of the corridor, with the capability of making geotagged comments, at this link.

Voters in Lone Tree approved joining the RTD taxing district in 2003 on the basis of plans for this extension to the T-REX project, which was then under construction.

But construction is now uncertain. That’s because the Southeast Corridor Extension is one of the seven FasTracks corridors at risk of being trimmed due to a budget gap of $2.2 billion in the program. A large spike in construction costs, right-of-way and project scope combined with the recession’s impact on RTD’s sales tax revenues have put a financial hole in the program. RTD currently estimates it would take $6.9 billion to complete the original FasTracks plan by 2017, the original schedule. When a sales tax hike for it was approved by voters in 2004, the cost was estimated at $4.7 billion.

RTD annually evaluates the entire program’s costs based on changing prices over the life of the program, and the new figure is expected to be calculated sometime in January. Because construction is spread over each year until 2017, each year’s actual results in construction cost inflation, combined with fresh projections for future inflation and tax revenues, combine to influence the bottom line. Early in the program, small changes can result in big differences down the road.

The Southeast Corridor Extension would run for 2.3 miles south from Lincoln Station to RidgeGate.

This simulated view looking west over C-470 toward Santa Fe Drive shows RTD's Southwest Corridor Extension curving into Highlands Ranch from Mineral Station. The station in the picture is a future intermediate stop before Lucent Boulevard.

RTD’s FasTracks plan to build an extension to the Littleton light rail line faces few environmental hurdles along the 2.5-mile route from Mineral Avenue to Lucent Boulevard in Highlands Ranch.

The biggest hurdle it faces is being at the end of the line for funding from the overall FasTracks budget, which has a $2.2 billion shortfall trying to pay for $6.9 billion worth of work by 2017.

The Southwest Corridor Extension is currently priced at $165.6 million. Only the Central Corridor light rail extension from Five Points to a transfer station for the proposed line to DIA is estimated at less cost.

The Southwest extension’s most expensive element is a large, curving flyover bridge to take the double-tracked extension over the top of the complex C-470/Santa Fe Drive interchange where two freight railroad bridges and a proposed highway ramp by the Colorado Department of Transportation also compete for space.

The environmental evaluation found minimal impacts other than during the construction period itself, for which it lays out mitigation measures. You can read the executive summary of the document here. RTD identified some visual impacts as well as impacts on the Highline Canal, trails and a historic Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad trestle that must be removed. RTD says it will protect the canal and trail by routing them through a large concrete box culvert for the light rail to pass overhead.

Rendering of the light rail flyover bridge at C-470 and Santa Fe Drive.

Finding the financial resources to go from the drawing board to the dirt will be the biggest problem for this project.

On the original FasTracks schedule circulated when voters approved a four-tenths cent sales tax to pay for it in 2004, the Southwest Corridor Extension was to be one of the last to come on line in late 2016, along with an extension to the Southeast Corridor light rail – the T-REX line that opened in 2006. The reasoning for that was so that other parts of the metro area currently without any rail transit service would have their lines opened first before communities that already have rail get more.

But now, with RTD short on financial resources, the Southwest extension is in the same boat as the at-risk lines along Interstate 225 and in the north metro area – and that boat is adrift in a shallow sea of finances.

RTD is considering asking voters for a second sales tax increase to fill in the gap and finish all the lines by 2017. It is working with groups such as the Metro Mayors Caucus on a consensus over how and when to proceed.

RTD now figures that without a second tax increase for which it may seek voter approval as early as next year, it can only afford to fully finish the West Corridor light rail to Golden, the East Corridor heavy-rail project to Denver International Airport and the Gold Line heavy rail to Arvada and Wheat Ridge. Enough funds would be left over to build only short beginning stubs of three other new rail lines.

And if it also fails to secure federal grants for the Gold Line or East Corridor, the Gold Line could be put on hold.

The FasTracks Southwest Corridor team presented results of a year-long environmental evaluation and preliminary engineering at a public meeting Wednesday evening in Littleton City Hall. The results are rather straightforward. There is only one station on the extension in the current budget, and that’s the new end-of-line at Lucent Boulevard on the south side of C-470. But RTD is planning for a later addition of an intermediate station along C-470 at Santa Fe.

Click here to go to an interactive map of the Southwest — and Southeast — extension projects that allows you to make geo-tagged comments on the studies.

Littleton Mineral Station is the current southern end-of-line for the Southwest Corridor.

The Lucent Station, with a parking garage and 1,000 total parking spaces, would draw riders from adjacent Highlands Ranch who currently drive to Mineral.

RTD isn’t required to do a full-blown environmental impact study on the extension since no federal funds are involved. And because there is no obvious lead federal agency to act as overseer of a smaller scale environmental assessment, RTD designed its own in-house “environmental evaluation” process to mirror the bigger studies in many of the other FasTracks corridors. RTD’s goal was to ensure each corridor project in FasTracks, whether required or not, was subjected to similar study and public scrutiny. In this case, it is up to the RTD board to act on the results.

Map shows the study area of the FasTracks Southwest Corridor extension.

Contractor crews led by Railroad Specialties of Littleton do track welding as part of the expansion of the Elati light rail maintenance facility and train yard, a part of FasTracks. RTD Photo.

RTD has spent or committed $1.17 billion so far on FasTracks, one-sixth of the total estimated cost through 2017 of its rapid-transit expansion program.

The commitment level represents items already paid for plus current work now under contract – 17 percent of the total $6.9 billion projected cost.

Funds have been committed to all 10 rapid transit rail and bus corridors plus assorted common elements such as conversion of Denver Union Station into FasTracks’ main hub, expansion of the light rail maintenance facility in Englewood and planning for a new maintenance facility for heavy-rail commuter train cars.

A significant portion of the commitments have been made to corridors facing cutbacks if no new revenues are found to complete them. Public officials representing those corridors, mostly in Aurora, Adams County, Broomfield and Boulder County, have criticized RTD as short-changing them. The expenditures on them so far are for such things as environmental studies and preliminary engineering and design work, right-of-way acquisition and purchase of train cars to run on them.

The figures were laid out Tuesday in an update RTD gave to a task force of the Metro Mayors Caucus. Along with other stakeholders, the caucus – which unanimously backed the sales tax hike that voters approved in 2004 to pay for FasTracks – is now working with RTD toward an agreement over how to proceed now that FasTracks can’t meet its original 2017 completion date with its current projected revenues.

Hefty increases in construction costs, freight railroad requirements and added project scope, combined with the floor falling out of revenue projections during the recession, have left the program with what is currently a $2.2 billion funding gap in the 2017 plan. What was to cost $4.7 billion when voters approved FasTracks is now, with the additions, projected to cost $6.9 billion.

Sixty percent of the commitment is for the first FasTracks rail corridor to go to full construction, the West Corridor light rail through Denver, Lakewood and Golden. RTD has spent or contracted the total $707.6 million cost of the 12.1-mile line. Of that, about $510 million is for the two major construction contracts with Denver Transit Construction Group and Balfour Beatty. The rest is for the required environmental impact study, engineering, design and land acquisition.

Retaining wall along Sixth Avenue Freeway will support light rail track as it goes up and over Sixth and Indiana Street on the concrete piers in the distance. RTD Photo.

Ironically, the two corridors with the next-highest commitment levels are among the ones threatened with cuts because of the program’s funding gap. The North Metro commuter rail corridor, an 18-mile electrified heavy-rail project through Denver, Commerce City and Thornton, has $135.7 million in spending and committed funds. RTD has spent about $125 million for corridor property, including $117 million to purchase the Union Pacific freight track right-of-way it will use for the project.

The third-place corridor is the Interstate 225 light rail extension in Aurora, where 88 percent of the $70.9 million committed so far is tied up in a contract with Siemens to produce all of the light rail train cars that will be used on it. Several of the vehicles already have been delivered to RTD.

North Metro and I-225 fall into the group of projects threatened with cuts in part because they do not qualify for federal funding. The issue has created conflict between RTD and the communities that would be served by those threatened lines because the transit agency wants to complete the ones that do qualify for federal assistance – the West Corridor along with the East Corridor commuter rail to Denver International Airport and the Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge. West Corridor already has secured a $308 million grant agreement from the Federal Transit Administration. The East Corridor and Gold Line qualify for $1 billion combined in federal grants.

Cutting them back would cost the program that federal assistance. Conversely, RTD says, if it doesn’t get the federal grants at all, it will only be able to fully construct the East Corridor to DIA, along with the West Corridor, by 2017. In that case, the Gold Line would be put on hold as well as the other remaining corridors, possibly to all be built only as existing funds allow over time.

But officials in those other corridors are demanding equity since their residents are paying the four-tenths cent sales tax for FasTracks. RTD and the mayors are discussing whether to go to voters as early as next year to ask for a second sales tax increase to complete these at-risk lines.

One proposal, from Mayor Ed Tauer of Aurora, is that the second tax be earmarked for the at-risk lines. RTD is examining the ramifications of such a restriction.

RTD annually evaluates its cost and revenue projections, and plans to have new figures in January. Estimated costs could go up, but like earlier this year, they could also go down as worldwide construction materials prices back off their historic highs from 2005 onward. In 2008, RTD estimated FasTracks’ total 2017 costs at $7.9 billion; the estimate dropped by $1 billion this year. But the revenue projection fell more, resulting in the $2.2 billion shortfall.

“We are continuing to analyze the implications of this approach, and to work with our stakeholders to determine how to move forward,” said FasTracks planner Julie Skeen.

Funds committed to FasTracks program elements:

• $707.6 million: West Corridor light rail
• $135.7 million: North Metro commuter rail
• $92.5 million: Denver Union Station conversion
• $70.9 million: Interstate 225 light rail
• $40.1 million: East Corridor commuter rail
• $28.3 million: Southeast Corridor light rail extension
• $22.5 million: Southwest Corridor light rail extension
• $18.7 million: US 36 Bus Rapid Transit project
• $14.3 million: Expansion of Elati light rail maintenance facility
• $12.2 million: Northwest Rail commuter rail
• $11.5 million: Gold Line commuter rail
• $10.6 million: Central Corridor light rail extension
• $6.6 million: Commuter rail maintenance facility

• $1,171.5 million: Total committed funds

Today, the Regional Transportation District is marking the 15th anniversary of light rail opening in the metro area. Since RTD opened the 5.3-mile Central Light Rail Line October 7, 1994, RTD’s 35-mile light rail system has carried nearly 150 million passenger trips.

The light rail network carries an average of about 60,000 passenger trips every weekday, ahead of ridership projections. All four of RTD’s light rail lines were built on time and on budget, and each exceeded ridership projections.

RTD Chairman Lee Kemp said, “The 15th Anniversary of light rail in the metro area is yet another milestone among the many RTD has surpassed, with many more to come. The importance of providing rapid transit service, including the full FasTracks system, to meet the current and future needs of the region cannot be overstated.”

In an effort to help address traffic congestion and growing pains, in 1994 the Regional Transportation District (RTD) succeeded in opening the Denver metro region’s first light rail line. The 5.3-mile Central Corridor Line cost $116.5 million and was fully funded by RTD. Shortly after opening, ridership surpassed 17,000 daily boardings, 3,000 more than anticipated. The Central Corridor allowed RTD to remove 400 bus trips per day from downtown city streets. The new line not only demonstrated the success of light rail in the metro area but also provided the backbone of the planned regional light rail system.

RTD added the 8.7-mile Southwest line in July 2000, connecting with the cities of Sheridan, Englewood and Littleton. The 2-mile Central Platte Valley/C-Line was added in April 2002, providing service to the Auraria Campus, Invesco Field at Mile High, the Pepsi Center, and Denver Union Station (DUS), just two blocks from Coors Field. The 19-mile Southeast Line down I-25 from Broadway with a spur on I-225 to Parker Road, part of the T-REX Project, opened in November 2006.

Southwest Corridor
Once metro area residents saw how successful light rail could be, surrounding communities clamored for more. In May 1995 RTD received a Full Funding Grant Agreement in the amount of $120 million for the $177 million Southwest Corridor line. The line opened in July 2000, adding 8.7 miles of light rail and 5 stations, bringing suburban commuters from the Englewood, Sheridan and Littleton areas into downtown Denver. This was the first light rail line running from a suburban area to downtown. Ridership exceeded projections by nearly 70 percent on opening day and continues at levels above projections.

The City of Englewood took the opportunity to redevelop the all-but abandoned Cinderella City shopping center, which once housed 1.35 million square feet of retail space, into a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) village. Utilizing a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use concept that combined retail, entertainment, residential, office, civic and open space elements, the RTD Englewood Light Rail Station was the cornerstone to its success. A former department store was transformed into the new Englewood City Center, housing City Hall, the Library and the Museum of Outdoor Arts. The Englewood City Center community is now an international model for TOD.

Central Platte Valley/C-Line
RTD took a big step in public-private partnerships when it opened the Central Platte Valley (CPV) light rail line in April 2002. Two miles in length with four additional stations, the CPV, now designated as the C-Line, provides riders with service to Denver Union Station.
RTD’s funding partners for the $47.8 million C-Line light rail included DRCOG, the City and County of Denver, and private stakeholders, including the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, Six Flags/Elitch Gardens, Lower Downtown District, Auraria Higher Education Center, Pepsi Center, and the Trillium Corporation. Daily boardings were again ahead of projections, and special event service is well ahead of projections. With the opening of the CPV line, 35,000 students could take light rail to the Auraria Higher Education Center, home to the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and the University of Colorado at Denver.

The C-Line made Denver the only city with all major pro sports venues served by one light rail line. Fans of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Mammoth can take light rail to root for their teams. Denver Union Station became the focal point of the new line, with riders able to take light rail all the way to lower downtown and DUS. Ridership opening day exceeded projections by 61 percent. RTD’s 16th Street Mall Shuttle service was extended to Union Station to connect with C-Line.

With the opening of the C Line, a color coding system was introduced to differentiate Denver’s light rail lines. The new CPV extension became the “C” or “Orange” Line, while the Central Corridor line through downtown was named the “D” or “Green” line. The historic Denver Union Station was purchased to coincide with the opening of the C-Line. The Station was acquired by RTD in 2001 in partnership with the City and County of Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments. The station and surrounding acreage is being transformed into a transportation hub serving current and future needs of commuters, residents, and tourists.

Southeast Line/T-REX
The light rail portion of the T-REX project, the Southeast Light Rail Line, along I-25 to Lincoln Avenue includes a total of 19 miles of new light rail. T-REX was a partnership between RTD and the Colorado Department of Transportation, which widened the highway along this same corridor. Of T-REX’s $1.67 billion budget, the light rail portion was $879 million (including $525 million in federal funding) and finished $2 million under budget. The Southeast Light Rail Line opened 13 additional stations, with park-n-Rides providing a total of 6,000 parking spaces, and linked the existing system from Denver through the municipalities of Greenwood Village, Centennial, Lone Tree and Aurora. Ridership exceeds year 2020 projections.

FasTracks
The region’s recognition of the importance that passenger rail will play in helping to address mobility needs, traffic concerns, smart growth and “green” transit options in the rapidly growing metro area led to RTD developing the comprehensive FasTracks rapid transit expansion program. Overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004, FasTracks is RTD’s voter-approved transit program to expand rail and bus service throughout the RTD service area. FasTracks will build 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and redirect bus service to better connect the eight-county District. The FasTracks investment initiative is projected to create more than 10,000 jobs during the height of construction `and will pump billions of dollars into the regional economy.

West Corridor Light Rail Line
The West Corridor Light Rail Line, the first FasTracks line, is well under construction, with RTD having received a $308 million full funding grant agreement in January from the Federal Transit Administration for the $634.7 million line. Opening in 2013, the West Corridor adds 12 stations and 12.1 miles of light rail running from DUS through Denver, Lakewood, and Golden, ending at the Jefferson County Government Center.

Eagle P3 Project
RTD just issued the request for proposals (RFP) for the Eagle P3 project, the public-private partnership (P3) venture that will complete several FasTracks projects through one collective contract. As planned, the RFP was delivered to three pre-qualified teams on September 30.

The $2.3 billion Eagle P3 Project will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the commuter rail lines of the East Corridor from Denver Union Station to Denver International Airport, the Gold Line to Arvada and Wheat Ridge, a short segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor to Westminster and the commuter rail maintenance facility. In 2008, RTD short-listed three teams to compete for the P3 contract. Proposals from the bidding teams are due in spring 2010, and RTD expects to make a decision on selecting a final team in June 2010.

A growing number of public entities are pursuing public-private partnerships as a way to benefit from upfront private equity to help build major infrastructure projects. While P3 projects are more common internationally, RTD’s Eagle P3 Project represents a unique model for a major transit project in the United States.

More FasTracks
In addition, the FasTracks program is moving forward with the I-225 Corridor, the North Metro Corridor, Northwest Rail, the US 36 Corridor, the extensions to the Southwest and Southeast Lines, and the Denver Union Station redevelopment.