Denver RTD withdraws consideration for Gold Line Federal Station relocation

The Regional Transportation District in Denver is no longer considering a proposed relocation of the FasTracks Gold Line rail station on Federal Boulevard after the Adams County Commissioners withdrew their support December 15 for the new location. RTD received approval in June from the Federal Transit Administration to relocate the station from the east side of Federal Boulevard to the west, triggered by Adams County's decision last year to incorporate into its comprehensive land-use plan a transit-oriented development on the west side of Federal Boulevard that incorporated a new location for the Gold Line station. The county and the developer both held a number of public meetings on the proposal. "As always, we will support our stakeholders along all of our FasTracks corridors in their efforts to bring transit-oriented development that will revitalize their communities and improve quality of life," said Phil Washington, RTD general manager. "This effort was part of that pledge. In this case, our local partner feels that it can no longer support the new location without further study. But the Gold Line is an approved project and is already under contract, so with Adams County no longer explicitly supporting the change, we can no longer continue with it." The Gold Line, an electrified commuter rail line that will be built from downtown Denver to Arvada and Wheat Ridge, Colo., is part of RTD's FasTracks transit expansion program. FasTracks will build 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and redirect bus service to better connect the eight-county District. The FasTracks investment initiative is projected to create more than 10,000 construction-related jobs during the height of construction, and will pump billions of dollars into the regional economy