West Rail

Denver, CO, United States

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West Rail

Denver, CO, United States

Firm

IBI Group - Denver, CO

Type

Transport + Infrastructure › Train/Subway

YEAR

2013

On April 26, 2013, after more than ten years of planning, overcoming funding challenges, land acquisitions, and hearing the voices of stakeholders and local communities, Colorado’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) opened its’ West Rail Line to the public. The West Rail is 12.1 miles of light rail corridor that runs from Denver Union Station, through Lakewood, and ending at the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden, Colorado. The West Rail is part of RTD’s FasTracks Program planned to address Colorado’s growing need for public transportation. The corridor consists of 11 new stations, one re-located station, six new Park-n-Ride facilities, four miles of new bike paths, and has a projected ridership of more than 29,000 per day by 2030.

The corridor literally travels through the backyards of Denver and Lakewood residents making Light Rail a viable and convenient option for the growing population, but also bringing to light many obstacles. Many community leaders and residents along the corridor attended the public meetings with their growing concerns about cost, noise, and vandalism as well as access and safety at many of the planned stations. These were all valid concerns that needed to be addressed. Superior lighting standards were followed to provide a safe and bright environment for pedestrians both during the day and at night. Pedestrian access points are very focused on the surrounding areas to provide the safest paths to and from the stations. During the final design phase of the West Rail, the economy took a hit and the cost of materials sky-rocketed. These challenging events resulted in a series of Value Engineering exercises, in which ways of reducing overall project costs were explored.

The positive effects that the West Rail has already had and will continue to have on our growing city are profound. The construction process alone employed thousands of people and the job opportunities will continue to increase as more and more people utilize this direct access to Jefferson County, Federal Center and downtown Denver. Reducing the need for people to use automobiles by providing a multi-modal approach, linking public transportation, bikes, cars and pedestrians, is the way of the future. The opening of the West Rail and the future FasTracks expansion will lead to the future development and redevelopment of communities and provide connectivity throughout the Colorado region.