A new type of bus that will travel the newly reconstructed Boulder Turnpike will be available for inspection this week as a starting date nears for the transformation of the 60-year-old highway.
A Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, demonstration bus will be displayed in several areas in the north metro area where most commuters feed onto U.S. 36.
People can tour the bus to check out its features and get an idea of what it will offer commuters once the entire $425 million transformation of the highway is complete, said Paulette Tonilas, spokeswoman for the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks project.
“We’ve never had anything like this before, and we want to educate people about what it can do and its features,” Tonilas said. “Many people think it is like a regular bus, but it’s not.”
The U.S. 36 FasTracks project will extend 18 miles of BRT from Interstate 25 to Table Mesa in Boulder as part of a multimodal corridor that will include high-occupancy-vehicle and toll lanes in each direction as well as a bikeway.
Construction of the first 11 miles of the BRT/express-lanes system on U.S. 36 from Federal Boulevard in Westminster to South 88th Street in Superior/Louisville begins in July, Tonilas said.
Earlier this year, the Colorado Department of Transportation picked Ames/Granite Joint Venture to design and build that first phase of reconstruction.
A request for a proposal for a firm to design, build and finance the second phase of the U.S. 36 Express Lanes project — from South 88th Street to Table Mesa Drive in Boulder — is expected to be issued this summer.
The first segment of U.S. 36 is scheduled to be finished by December 2014, while the second portion is scheduled to wrap up by July 2015, planners said.
RTD, which is planning the project along with CDOT and the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise, was able to secure the BRT demonstration bus from North American Bus Industries as it makes its way to San Antonio, Tonilas said.
BRT is popular in many areas of the world and can be customized to meet the needs of each community, she said. A typical BRT vehicle is similar to commuter rail — it’s a low-floor, high-capacity vehicle that uses diesel and natural gas.
A BRT system also includes enhanced shelters with digital customer information and ticket machines.
“There are just a bunch of features that will make for a better riding experience,” said Louisville Mayor Bob Muckle.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
See the bus
The model will be available for viewing at the following locations:
Tuesday: Market Street Station on 16th Street between Market and Blake, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Westminster in the bus slip ramp on the north (westbound) side of U.S. 36, 3 to 6 p.m.
Wednesday: Boulder at the Municipal Building, at the corner of Canyon and Broadway, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Longmont at the park-n-Ride at 8th Avenue and Coffman Street, 3 to 6 p.m.
Thursday: Broomfield inside the park-n-Ride off U.S. 287 at Gate B, 7 to 9 a.m. Louisville/Superior in the parking lot on the south (eastbound) side of U.S. 36 at McCaslin Boulevard, 3 to 6 p.m.
