RTD urged to make FasTracks cuts

Light rail to Golden must be accessible to all, residents say

Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 28, 2006 at midnight

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Everyone likes to cut costs, but RTD's planned FasTracks light rail line to Golden shouldn't cut things that people need to be able to use it conveniently.

That was among the comments made by some of the 80 people who attended the Regional Transportation District's first public meeting on the West Corridor light rail project since it detailed a series of cuts it's considering last month.

Pressure from significant jumps in construction costs has prompted RTD to propose some changes to the $510 million, 12.1-mile rail line that would be the first of nine FasTracks corridors to open.

The West Corridor would open in 2013. The other corridors - six entirely new ones and three extensions of existing ones - would open in stages through 2016.

Because of the scope of the changes being considered, the U.S. Federal Transit Administration asked RTD to do a supplemental environmental study on the noise, safety, vibration and other impacts that would be different from the study the FTA approved in 2004.

The most significant change drew some of the most specific reaction. Instead of running the tracks along the north side of Sixth Avenue Freeway from the Simms Street/Union Boulevard interchange west, the trains would remain on the south side of the freeway until crossing on a new bridge just east of Indiana Street.

That saves significant costs that had been budgeted for a large tunnel from the Denver Federal Center station, under the Simms/Union interchange and the freeway to the north side. The bridge would cost less money.

Leaving the tracks on the south side longer also better serves the Red Rocks Community College campus. But residents said the possibility of eliminating a pedestrian bridge from the campus station to the neighborhoods on the north side would be foolish. It would leave a large number of potential riders without a convenient way to get to the train station.

The bridge would cost $504,000 in today's dollars, slightly more by the time it is built.

"The station was originally going to be on our side of the road," said Tom McMahon, who lives north of Sixth Avenue. "We can't use the light rail if we can't get to it."

Bernie Goldman, who lives on the south side of the highway and would be closer to the station, agreed.

"The whole idea is to make it convenient for people to get out of their cars," he said. "You've got to have a bridge. To cut those other people off wouldn't be equitable."

The proposed changes came out of a two-day session with RTD staff and consultants several months ago for so-called "value engineering" ideas. Value engineering seeks to identify changes that can cut costs while still achieving the aims of the project.

Other changes being considered include eliminating a pedestrian tunnel under Howard Place near the Federal Boulevard station; moving the end-of-line station at the Jefferson County government complex from the west side to the east, thereby shortening the distance a bit; reducing the length of the bridge over Colfax Avenue at Sixth by shifting the track alignment slightly; and reducing the amount of train service planned between the federal center and the Jeffco complex to cut operating costs.

Cost increases, which will impact the entire 12-year, $4.7 billion FasTracks program, are fueled in part by worldwide hikes in steel, cement and copper.

Any reductions in the size of structures such as bridges and tunnels, among the most expensive parts of transportation projects, will help the project to remain within budget.

RTD plans to have preliminary figures by September on how noise and vibration impacts will change under the new proposals. Final meetings would be in January with a new decision by the FTA early in 2007.

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