The latest plan for rail service from downtown Denver to DIA eliminates express-train options, but says airport commuters should be able to make the 25-mile trek in 35 minutes with diesel-powered commuter rail, or 38 minutes with light rail.
Transportation planners working on the $15 million environmental study of transit and highway improvements for the Interstate 70 corridor east of the Mousetrap revealed Wednesday the latest details of the ambitious project, which could cost as much as $3 billion.
Light rail from Union Station to Denver International Airport would have four more stations than commuter rail, but it would cost between $200 million and $300 million more than diesel rail, said R.A. Plummer, a lead planner on the study.
The Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks transit expansion plan has about $700 million earmarked for Union Station-DIA commuter rail service.
Planners have not identified where extra money might come from if light rail is chosen.
The I-70 study is expected to examine both technologies for at least another year.
Planners also are looking at running a trolley from the new airport train to the existing light rail platform at 30th Avenue and Downing Street. That plan could lead to replacing the Downing rail line with the trolley.
The alignment of a rebuilt I-70 between Interstate 25 and Interstate 270 could be the study’s most contentious element.
One possible change would swing I-70 to the northeast out of its existing east-west alignment, with severe impacts to the National Western Complex near I-70 and Brighton Boulevard.
“Obviously that would destroy the National Western buildings and complex,” said Patrick Grant, chief executive of the stock show. “That one option is no option as far as we’re concerned.”
The proposed new routing of I-70 would tie in with I-270 just east of its junction with Colorado Boulevard.
National Western officials have talked about moving the stock show complex to the north, on other land the organization owns. But it is not clear if there is enough land available for that move to be made and allow for the rerouting of I-70.
Planners also are considering an option that connects the realigned I-70 at a different point that would largely spare the National Western Complex, but take homes and businesses just east of Brighton Boulevard, between East 46th and 48th avenues, Plummer said.
If Colorado transportation officials pursue the realignment of I-70 without new toll lanes, it would require taking only 13 homes, according to the study. That would be the lowest number of homes taken among eight I-70 reconstruction alternatives under consideration.
If toll lanes are added to the realigned I-70, the state would have to take about 44 homes, including some in Commerce City on the north side of what is now I-270, Plummer said.
Other options for I-70 include keeping the highway in its current right of way between Brighton Boulevard and I-270, and either rebuilding the aged viaduct between Brighton and Colorado Boulevard, or putting that stretch of the highway below grade in an uncovered trench.
Adding two lanes to I-70 from the Mousetrap to I-270, including possible toll lanes, would require confiscation of between 64 and 92 homes, depending on whether the road expanded to the north or south.
Each of the I-70 reconstruction options, whether in the new alignment or existing right of way, would cost between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. State transportation officials are looking at tolling as a way to pay for a portion of the construction.
Lorraine Granado, a community leader in the Globeville-Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods through which I-70 now slices, said a realigned interstate that largely skirted the community would be the preferred option.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
