Littleton has chosen the Mineral light rail station as the site of its future Front Range Passenger Rail stop, nudging aside the south suburb’s popular downtown largely because of the exorbitant expense of building a station there.
The city’s decision comes as Front Range rail officials move toward placing a measure on the November ballot that would fund the Fort Collins-to-Pueblo intercity train system. The new line could feature as many as 10 round-trip journeys a day, and Littleton is among cities planning for the potential development it could spur near stations.
But first, Littleton had to deal with practical considerations in determining where to put the first stop south of Denver’s Union Station. The cost difference between the two potential station locations, as described by Deputy City Manager Kathleen Osher at a , constituted a “wild span.”
By the numbers, engineering and construction costs for a new train station near West Mineral Avenue, east of Santa Fe Drive, were projected to run less than $15 million. To design and build a new station in downtown Littleton could cost anywhere from $100 million to as much as $1 billion, according to the two locations.
The city attributes the explosive downtown price tag to the significant work that would be required to widen the rail corridor to accommodate a platform and passing tracks, including land acquisition and the reconstruction of several bridges.
That stark differential was enough to convince the council last week that Mineral Station, which is a few miles south of downtown Littleton and serves as the final stop on the Regional Transportation District’s southwest light rail line, is the best site for a new passenger rail platform.
plans to run its trains on nearby freight tracks under a sharing agreement with the railroads that own them.
“Downtown would have been cool — but pricey,” Councilman Joel Zink said March 17.
Littleton’s decision further solidifies the necessary infrastructure for a train line that is expected to begin full service in 2031, featuring a dozen stations. Other include Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Westminster, Denver and Colorado Springs.
The only station still in question lies one stop south of Littleton in Douglas County.
Front Range rail district general manager Sal Pace said that will likely be settled this week, when the district’s board meets to decide between a proposed site near Monument and one farther north near Sterling Ranch.
Pace told The Denver Post in an interview that he will recommend the Sterling Ranch site to the board. Located where Titan Road meets U.S. 85, it’s the best place for Douglas County’s rail stop, he said.
Economic driver for Littleton
For Littleton Mayor Kyle Schlachter, the potential for a rail station to inject economic life into his city is huge. A consultant’s report that was discussed in depth during last week’s council meeting projected a potential $750 million benefit to Littleton’s economy over the next 30 years from a station at Mineral.
More specifically, Matrix Design Group and ArLand Land Use Economics projected that a Front Range rail station at Mineral would spur $325 million in new development investment in multifamily housing, retail and office space, while generating 1,620 jobs over 30 years.
“This is going to be a transformative project for not just Littleton, but for the whole Front Range,” Schlachter said.
But first, there is the matter of getting a measure on the ballot this fall. Pace said the district is envisioning asking voters living in the 13-county district for a 0.4% to 0.5% sales tax to fund the system.
“We’re operating as though we’re going to be ready (for the November election),” he said, noting that ballot language would have to be filed with state election officials by July.
Earlier this month, the district launched a contest for the public to choose a moniker for the future passenger train.
Front Range rail officials are also awaiting a decision from RTD’s board about whether the transit agency will help pay for a “starter service” along the northern Front Range, including a train linking Denver and Boulder. It would begin operating by 2029, before the full service begins a couple years later.
RTD’s pending vote comes at a particularly challenging time for the agency. Just last week, managers told the board of directors that the agency needed to address a $215 million deficit by 2027 — or risk reducing or eliminating bus and train service across its 2,345-square-mile service area.
A budget of $885 million has been set for the starter service. RTD’s portion of that has not been determined.
Despite the uncertainty, RTD Director and board Chair Patrick O’Keefe said a new passenger rail platform in Littleton would be an “economic driver” for the city of 45,000. O’Keefe represents the district that would encompass the new rail station.
“I’m very hopeful that there will be another viable asset in that part of the metro area to move people around,” he said.
The details for track sharing with BNSF Railway have been “heavily negotiated,” Pace said, though final design plans are still pending.
“We fully expect the Class 1 railroads to be willing partners with us,” he said.
Both downtown Littleton and Mineral Station sit next to the BNSF right of way and, as such, have been candidates for the Front Range rail stop since the district was formed five years ago. The city’s downtown area is well known, with pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares lined with handsome brick buildings, specialty shops and restaurants.
But downtown is far more constrained as the site of a rail station. The consultants’ analysis estimated that creating the room for a platform could require the purchase of more than $57 million worth of adjoining property, with potential impacts to the Colorado Center for the Blind, a nearby apartment building and the Alamo Avenue bridge.
“With Mineral, it is a little more of a straightforward station,” said Kenna Davis, a senior transportation planner for the city.
Compared to downtown Littleton, the Mineral site has more than six times as much space for the station and parking. And the zoning is more generous at Mineral, allowing for buildings as high as six stories, versus downtown’s four-story height limit.
The area around the Mineral light rail station has been filling in with housing and retail for more than 20 years. The Aspen Grove shopping center is situated just to the north of the station and is rising just to the south.
Less than a mile away, work crews are assembling , a large residential and commercial development that will feature a long-awaited Costco that’s set to open this summer. And last year, Littleton embarked on a project to make major improvements to the intersection of Santa Fe and Mineral Avenue — which sees 90,000 vehicles per day on average — with a that should reduce congestion.
The work is expected to wrap up in 2027.
“I think the big thing with Mineral is that there’s a lot of opportunity,” Davis said.
Questions remain
Schlachter, the mayor, still has questions about how standing up a station at Mineral will roll out.
“How much is the city going to be involved?” he asked. “How much investment does the city have to make, versus the (passenger rail) district?”
While firm numbers haven’t been announced, Pace said there will be a “share-back,” amounting to tens of millions of dollars shared with municipalities from revenues generated by the proposed sales tax. He estimated Littleton could see as much as $50 million in share-back money over a quarter-century.
“We’ll be sending money back to the communities with stations,” he said. “The stations aren’t just a train station but an anchor for development and a transportation hub.”
With the anticipated hoopla over the possibility of an intercity train station at Mineral, Littleton’s mayor doesn’t want the city’s downtown being overlooked. The city just started its , an effort to beautify the shopping district with new lighting, new street designs, enhanced bike connections and newly planted trees.
The overhaul is expected to be completed in 2028.
“We’re not just going to forget about downtown,” Schlachter said.
