A multimillion-dollar light-rail station expected to open late next year is unreachable by RTD buses and so far will include a brick wall blocking quick access for more than 1,000 Denver households only a few dozen yards from the station’s parking lot.
Adding to problems at the $4.8 million Dayton light-rail station – on Interstate 225 between the John F. Kennedy Golf Course and South Yosemite Street – are disagreements among residents over possible impacts of the new station.
Part of the property is in Greenwood Village, part in Aurora, and Denver borders the land on three sides.
“Dayton station is an example of how not to do transit-oriented development,” said Bill McMullen, who represents the area on the Regional Transportation District’s board of directors. “This is simply a case of people not communicating.”
T-REX officials said the 9.5-acre station will open on time in December 2006 and serve a commercial and residential area expected to grow, as well as fit Greenwood Village and Aurora development plans.
But its development as part of the massive T-REX transportation project has highlighted a multijurisdictional quagmire unique among planned light-rail stations in the metro area, transportation officials said.
Roads leading to the station’s only entrance, off East Hampden Avenue, are too narrow for buses; municipalities have yet to agree on which will supply primary emergency services; and a 19-year-old intergovernmental agreement designed to protect one Denver neighborhood from an unrealized mega-mall on the Aurora side could prevent those residents from gaining easy access to the station’s 250-vehicle parking lot.
That agreement – between Aurora, Denver and the land’s developer at the time – said in part that a barrier would be built to prevent customers on the never-developed property from crossing west into the nearby Cherry Creek I, II and III townhome developments.
A wire fence currently exists where the barrier would be built.
Without city council amendments in Aurora and Denver, those residents would have to drive 10 blocks to reach the station, rather than walk a few hundred feet across the parking lot to a bridge leading to the light- rail platform.
Other light-rail stations have impassable walls, but they were built for safety or noise reasons.
“It’s unfair that we’d be denied easy access to something that’s literally right across the street,” said Steven Sochinski, a neighbor who issued a survey two years ago that showed residents supported amending the old agreement. “A majority of us want the access, so give it to us.”
But that’s not how all neighbors see it.
“If we amend it, we’ll open ourselves up to traffic problems, people could park in our spaces and it will become a real mess,” said Flo Dubowitz, who has lived in her townhome for 27 years and helped draft the initial agreement.
At a Sept. 14 meeting among representatives from all three municipalities, Aurora is likely to offer its emergency services to the station, said Aurora City Councilwoman Molly Markert.
As for the nonexistent bus access, RTD and T-REX officials said there always was a chance the roads would be too narrow. A bus turnaround will be built in case the roads are widened.
“I think this is being made into something it’s not,” Markert said of the station issues. “This is not a controversial thing. It’s a planning thing that needs to be worked out.”
At the light-rail site this week, earthmovers plowed across the now-dirt parking lot. The rail platform is virtually complete, and a bridge will soon be built.
And to the west, the town homes are fenced off with wire.
“It doesn’t look very aesthetically pleasing,” Sochinski said. “Basically, this (station) will be in our backyard, and we might not get the benefit.”
Staff writer Robert Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-1282 or rsanchez@denverpost.com.
