With a thunderous thud, a red-capped pillar at Civic Center Station fell to the ground after being wrenched from its concrete base by a backhoe.
Regional Transportation District general manager Dave Genova pointed to the toppling Thursday morning as representative of the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter in downtown Denver’s transit picture.
“It’s time for this transit hub to get a much needed face-lift,” Genova declared, as agency and city officials marked the official groundbreaking of the .
Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, said over the past few years, it’s critical that attention now be paid to the east end of downtown.
“This is the largest investment made on this side of upper downtown in decades,” she said.
Construction is expected to last 12 to 18 months. No lanes will be closed on Broadway or Colfax because of the project, according to an RTD spokeswoman, though buses no longer able to pull into the station will add to congestion at the busy intersection.
Passengers using routes 90L, 122X, FF4 and R/RC/RX will board buses from temporary gates on Lincoln Street between 17th and Colfax. Those using routes 0L, 3L, 83D, 83L, 87L, 100L, 116X, P, CV/CS/CX and EV/ES/EX will board buses on Broadway between 14th and Colfax.
The 16th Street Mall shuttle has been rerouted down Broadway, on to 15th Street and then north on Cleveland Place instead of turning around at Civic Center Station while the renovation takes place.
In about a month, RTD will receive the to replace the fleet traveling the 16th Street Mall now. Genova said the full fleet, which will run entirely on battery power, should be in place by year’s end. RTD previously approved $27.1 million for the electric buses.
Civic Center Station handled about 15,000 passengers per day.
