Planners want heavy commuter trains
Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News
Published December 12, 2006 at midnight
FasTracks planners say the only option that makes sense for rail transit from downtown through Adams County is to build heavy commuter rail on the existing Union Pacific line.
They have rejected options that were suggested by residents in the North Metro FasTracks study area that RTD look into building light rail instead, either along the west shoulder of Interstate 25 or in the center of Washington Street.
The staff working on the environmental impact study for the North Metro Corridor recommended rejecting those ideas because they were too expensive, took too many private properties and had lower ridership.
The choices were laid out for a joint meeting of local, state and federal officials and FasTracks planners this morning. The government representatives, including those from Brighton, Denver, Commerce City and Thornton, all concurred with the narrowed choices.
It could fan budding opposition by homeowners along the little-used rail line, where in some segments the backyards of single-family homes butt up against the track. UP currently operates only one short train per week, on Wednesdays, on the track.
"We haven’t ignored that there’s been a lot of public comments about the impacts along that corridor," said Joe Rocsky of URS, a project manager hired by RTD for the study. Planners will go on to evaluate of noise, vibration and property impacts as part of the study.
What’s left on the table is the original corridor selected six years ago in an earlier study – the same version voters saw in 2004 when they approved a tax increase to pay for the $4.7-billion FasTracks program.
The choice has some historical significance. These UP tracks follow the alignment of the original Denver Pacific Railroad that in 1870 linked the fledgling Denver area to the transcontinental railroad at Cheyenne.
The major remaining decision is a question that could pit Denver leaders and neighborhoods against those in Thornton.
The two remaining alternatives for the North Metro project involve using either self-propelled diesel-powered passenger cars or those powered by overhead electrical lines, similar to light rail vehicles.
Neighborhood groups in Denver have pushed for electric trains because they don’t favor handling the repair and upkeep of diesel-powered cars at the maintenance facility RTD plans on the border of the Cole and Elyria neighborhoods.
But in Thornton, the city and its residents oppose the overhead electric lines that would be needed to power electrified commuter cars. They prefer the diesel cars.
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