Sunnyside Denver Fast Tracks Information

Contents: (I imagine that I’m not the only one who is feeling a bit fatigued with the whole subject. It has been some time now that we’ve been peering into the fog from which RTD’s decisions emerge. But we have to keep going. The next six or seven months will likely yield all the fundamental decisions that will affect us. - Keith)

Gold Line Meetings

 CH2M is holding these Gold Line meetings like dumbbells: one meeting in Arvada, one in NW Denver. Here in NW we are providing a better-informed counterweight to the suburbanites. We’ve got to make sure that we keep insisting that our station be near 38th and Inca, and that it serve both lines. Some alternatives are probably going to drop off; the fast schedule means that only a small number of options (stations, technologies, alignments, etc.) will get a thorough analysis. There is a shell of a committee to look at undetermined “other alignments”; the committee hasn’t yet met. A “stations” committee may form soon. [In case some of you didn’t make the August scoping meeting at the Masonic Temple, the facility is very pleasant. The acoustics are good; everybody can see and hear well; plenty of parking; you definitely have the opportunity to buttonhole the engineers and managers, to gain clarity on whatever interests you. See www.rtdgoldline.com for more.

Wrap Up of SUNI meeting 9/13

 Thanks very much to all who were able to attend the SUNI meeting on 9/13. And thanks again to all of you who shared the announcement with your email lists. We had a very good turnout (40-45). The Gold Line EIS was represented by Don Ulrich (local head of CH2Mhill); for RTD, Eliz. Telford, a senior manager; Megan Lane represented GBSM, the public involvement subcontractor. Both Judy Montero and Juanita Chacon (“our” RTD Board member) were present. We learned some interesting things. Liz Telford explained that the budgets for the individual lines -- e.g., $462M for the Gold Line – are inviolate. Even if one line comes in under budget, the surplus cannot be applied to another corridor. The presentation emphasized rather convincingly that RTD is very worried about getting the system built within the budgeted funds. Prices of basic building materials (concrete, steel, copper, etc.) are rising steeply. The FasTracks budget included a 25% inflator, but it is looking tight. There was talk of commuter rail on the Gold Line, and there were some pointed questions about the DMU option (see next item).

Commuter Rail Equipment Fight

In advance of the SUNI meeting, RTD had put out a new commuter rail vehicle technology cost analysis. This is available for viewing here

 This is a powerpoint that compares the cost results of Electric Multiple Units (EMU) and Diesel Multiple Units (DMU). [Only those two options are considered (on three corridors – NW Rail, North Metro, and Airport) because the RTD Board accepted a recommendation this June to drop all the other CRT vehicle types from further consideration. It may well be that at least one additional option needs to come back into discussion: dual-mode equipment.] This subject is highly relevant to us, because commuter rail of some kind looks very possible to serve both lines that come close to NW Denver, and the equipment choice has strong implications for the Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility’s impact on surrounding neighborhoods. There are many problems with the powerpoint, and I’m drafting a letter of questions about its assumptions and methodology for the author, John Shonsey, RTD senior manager of engineering. EMU (represented by many high-quality manufacturers, decades in service all over the world, and extensive credible data on performance and reliability) is hardly comparable to DMU (only available from a single [local] manufacturer, almost totally untested, not chosen by any transit authority, completely without any record of service or history of fuel use.) It’s the DIA baggage system all over again.

Maintenance Facility (CRMF); East I-70 Corridor DEIS

 The Airport line will be coming out with its Draft EIS in March 2007. The main findings/recommendations, however, will be discussed in corridor-wide meetings on November 8th and 9th. (see Here's the link) The DEIS will name EMU as the recommended technology, will list the stations to be built as part of FasTracks, and will name the Union Pacific 36th Street as the recommended choice for the location of the CRMF. Judy Montero’s CRMF stakeholders group of residents and property owners from all the interested neighborhoods is meeting Oct. 4th to discuss a unified approach to the CRMF developments. It is at this stage that “mitigation” of adverse environmental effects gets discussed and agreed upon.

New Websites

 Here, for convenience, are the new websites for the Boulder Line (now called NW Rail) and the North Metro line. I hope the NW Rail site gets peppered with comments about a stop at 38th and Inca, and about the various commuter rail equipment issues.

www.rtdnorthwestrail.com

www.rtdnorthmetro.com