FasTracks
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available. |
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FasTracks is a 12-year, $4.7 billion public transportation expansion plan for the Denver-Aurora and Boulder Metropolitan Areas, developed by the Regional Transportation District. The plan calls for six light rail and diesel commuter rail lines with a combined length of 119 miles (192 km) to be opened between 2013 and 2016. The plan also includes the expansion of existing light rail stations, the addition of a bus-based rapid transit route between Denver and Boulder, and the addition and expansion of bus routes and parking facilities to support the new rail lines.
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[edit] Location
The new commuter and light rail lines will share a hub at Denver's Union Station, which will reap $200 million worth of facilities improvements under FasTracks, and for which a separate renovation and expansion project is also being planned. Endpoints of the radial rail lines are planned for Longmont, Thornton, Denver International Airport, Lone Tree, Littleton, Golden, and Arvada. FasTracks will include a stop near the University of Colorado at Boulder and a connector line through Aurora.
[edit] Line details
[edit] West Corridor (light rail)
This will be a new light rail line of 12.1 miles, or 19.4 km, that will follow a former Associated Railroad right-of-way. The project is already in Final Design, a Final Environmental Impact Statement having been completed. Eleven stations will be located on the line. It will open in 2013.
[edit] US 36 Corridor/Longmont Extension (commuter rail)
The Northwest Rail Corridor will be a commuter rail project between Denver, Boulder, and Longmont. The line will be 38.1 miles (61 km) and would entirely follow existing railroad right-of-way, with 7 stations on the route. It expected to be open in 2014.
[edit] East Corridor (commuter rail)
Another commuter rail line that is expected to open in 2014 is the East Corridor, a 23.6 mile (37.8 km) line between downtown Denver, Aurora, and Denver International Airport.
[edit] North Metro Corridor (commuter rail)
The area along the I-25 North corridor is growing heavily, and is expected to continue to grow. A commuter rail line along an existing railroad right-of-way from Denver to 160th Avenue in Thornton, which will be 18 miles (28.8 km) long, will open, with eight new stations, and will open in 2015.
[edit] I-225 Corridor (light rail)
Facilitating a circumferential link between the Southeast Corridor and the East Corridor is the I-225 Corridor, a new 10.5-mile (16.8 km) light rail line through Aurora, which will include seven new stations. This line will open in 2015.
[edit] Gold Line (light rail or commuter rail)
The Gold Line is an 11.2 mile (17.9 km) light rail or commuter rail line between Denver and Arvada, which would have seven stations. It is expected to be the last new line in the FasTracks plan to be built, which is planned to open in 2015.
[edit] Extensions (light rail)
Extensions to light rail lines that have already been completed are planned. Extension committed by the FasTracks plan include one to the Southwest Corridor, extending the line to the southwest corner of Lucent Boulevard and C-470, and extending the southeast corridor into Lone Tree. It appears the extensions, which FasTracks voters were told would open in 2010[citation needed] is now planned for 2016.
[edit] Progress
FasTracks is being funded with federal appropriations, private contributions, and a region-wide sales tax increase. The project was allowed to begin when the sales tax portion of its funding was approved by Denver metro area voters in November 2004. The tax went into effect in January 2005.
In 2006, engineering design of the initial segment was begun. The West Corridor line's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has already been completed.
By Spring 2006, the EISs of all other proposed lines were underway. The municipal governments of Denver, Boulder and Lakewood had launched detailed studies of community redevelopment possibilities around station locations. The cities of Westminster, Thornton, Aurora, Greenwood Village, Englewood, Sheridan, and Arvada are also planning transit oriented development areas around some of their proposed rail stations.
Central to the regional nature of the service package is Union Station. Special studies of its redevelopment and adaptation for multiple transport modes have been conducted and engineering design work and property development work was underway in 2006.
[edit] See also
- Regional Transportation District (RTD)
- TheRide (current transit services provided by RTD)
