A breakdown in RTD’s effort to acquire major Union Pacific railroad properties in central Denver for FasTracks rail construction has led the transit agency to consider new routes that would require the acquisition of land from more property owners.
On Tuesday, planners working on the Gold Line commuter train from Union Station to Arvada/Wheat Ridge outlined several alternate routes for the portion of the line from downtown Denver to Pecos Street.
All cost more than an earlier plan to use freight-rail right of way shared by the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads.
Planners are recommending a Union Station-to-Pecos option that could lead to taking 13 full properties, including one home, and parts of 11 other properties.
Constructing the alternate route is expected to cost $145 million, $10 million more than the adjacent route in the freight-rail right of way, in part because it will require more elevated structures.
An ongoing environmental study still must approve a final alignment for the Gold Line in the downtown Denver-to-Pecos corridor, said Liz Telford, the Regional Transportation District’s project manager for the $552.5 million commuter rail line.
The 11.2-mile electrified line is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015.
If the study settles on the alternate alignment, most of the private land needed for acquisition is industrial property north of Interstate 70 and just east of the freight tracks, Telford said.
RTD had hoped to acquire key Union Pacific railyards in central Denver, move the UP operations to Fort Lupton and use UP and BNSF right of way for the Gold Line and other FasTracks commuter trains, including the line to Denver International Airport.
When UP put a $700 million price tag on its properties, RTD officials said they had to walk away from the negotiations.
Doing so means RTD may have to consider acquiring much more private property for the FasTracks lines at a time some in the Colorado General Assembly are proposing to curb RTD’s power of eminent domain.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
Public comment
Planners will solicit public comment on Gold Line routing options at workshops scheduled for March 4 at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., and March 6 at the Highlands Masonic Center, 3550 Federal Blvd. in Denver. Both meetings are scheduled to run from 6 to 8 p.m.
