Streetcars possible alternative to light rail through Five Points

Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 16, 2006 at midnight

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Residents of northeast Denver who are wary of RTD's plans to extend light rail up Downing Street may soon desire a streetcar as the solution.

Managers of an environmental study looking into transit and highway improvements along the Interstate 70 east corridor between downtown and Denver International Airport have put a streetcar system on the table as a replacement for a light-rail line through Five Points on Welton Street.

Light rail requires two tracks separated from auto traffic. More than 40 properties along the west side of Downing, including the popular Inner City Health Center, might have to be demolished to make room.

But streetcars run on tracks built into the streets and mix in with traffic, so the system would require little or no additional right of way.

"We do not oppose the extension of light rail along Downing Street," said Kraig Burleson, chief executive of the health center. "We understand that, in the long term, this proposal offers worthy benefit to the city as a whole."

But, he added, "My preference leans towards the recently added . . . streetcar line option. This choice would not simply spare Inner City Health Center, but would spare the neighborhoods."

The trade-off is that streetcars can move only as fast as the cars in front of them.

"We can't build the light rail in the street," said R.A. Plummer, project manager for PBS&J, the lead consultant for the study.

The streetcar proposal will be examined alongside the alternative of extending the light-rail system in the ongoing study that is part of implementing the $4.7 billion FasTracks program approved by voters in 2004.

A streetcar system would replace the current light-rail line between Broadway and 30th Avenue. Streetcars would use the existing single track plus double-track extensions north of 30th and south to Civic Center Station at 16th Avenue, using Broadway and Lincoln Street.

The FasTracks program included money to extend light rail north on Downing to intersect at 40th Avenue with the planned train to the airport. That money could be applied to a streetcar line instead.

Marva Coleman, director of the Five Points Business Association, said people will want to watch the study closely, not only in Five Points but also in the surrounding neighborhoods of Cole, Whittier, San Rafael and Curtis Park.

"We all will benefit from this if it is the right thing to do," she said.

Public viewing

• What: Transit and highway plans

• When: Wednesday and Thursday, 5-8 p.m.

• Where: Montbello Recreation Center, 15555 E. 53rd Ave., on Wednesday; and Swansea Recreation Center, 2650 E. 49th Ave., on Thursday

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