A group of commuter rail advocates asked RTD’s board of directors Tuesday night to halt approval of a number of Union Station development agreements so they can try to revise an environmental study of the project.
“Our fear is that once shovels are in the ground, we will be stuck for many many years,” said Ira Schreiber, president of the Colorado Rail Passengers Association, which promotes passenger rail.
But the Regional Transportation District board rejected the pleas of Schreiber and others who claim that commercial development around Union Station is taking precedent over transit needs.
Directors unanimously approved a measure that calls for spending $40 million on the first phase of Union Station construction, including excavation for a 22-bay, underground bus station that will be one of the project’s main transit elements.
The board also approved the sale of land parcels next to Union Station to a private company that will coordinate transit and commercial development on the site.
Union Station is to be the hub of RTD’s light-rail and commuter-rail network once its FasTracks program is completed. FasTracks includes at least six new train lines for the metro area.
If RTD proceeds with Union Station development, opponents will likely go to federal court for an injunction to stop the environmental study to ensure it is “properly done,” said Philipp Theune, a Denver lawyer who joined Schreiber and others in opposing board approval of the project.
“I want a station built to handle multimodal transit that is passenger friendly,” said Joan Teresa Shaffer, of Loveland, who represents a group promoting commuter rail between Denver and northern Colorado.
Shaffer, Schreiber and Theune say the current Union Station plan will not accommodate future rail expansion and it separates light-rail and commuter-rail platforms by too much distance.
After the board vote, RTD General Manager Cal Marsella said their claims were baseless.
All of Union Station’s transit elements are located within the same complex, he said, with the underground bus facility acting as a “bridge” between commuter-rail and light-rail platforms.
Additionally, the planned eight-track commuter rail station has enough capacity to accommodate future rail growth, Marsella said.
He also defended the goal of promoting commercial development on the site along with transit.
“Money we receive from the sale of property helps make the entire transit investment work,” Marsella said. Private development will make it “a highly desirable place to live, work and play.”
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
