RTD

Subway: the Next Logical Step in Denver’s Rail Plans
By Daniel G. Jennings
I’m happy to see the Regional Transportation District planning new rail lines to move people around Central Denver. Unfortunately, RTD’s plans don’t include the one option that would really ease congestion in Central Denver: subways.
On March 10, The Denver Post reported that RTD and the City and County of Denver are planning new rail lines to Downtown Denver.* If The Post can be believed, Denver and RTD officials want a rail line on Broadway connecting the I-25/Broadway light rail junction with the Civic Center and 16th Street Mall in Downtown, a line along East Colfax connecting Colorado Boulevard and Downtown, a rail line along Speer Boulevard between Downtown and Cherry Creek and a line along Colorado Boulevard between Colfax and I-25. Rail lines along those dense corridors are desperately needed unfortunately RTD’s rail plans seem like a recipe for congestion rather than a solution.
I might note that there simply is no room for train tracks on East Colfax west of Colorado Boulevard or South Broadway. Trains on Speer and Colorado boulevards would congest traffic and disrupt residential neighborhoods and businesses.
As a regular RTD bus rider I know that buses along these lines are crowded and at capacity. The 15 and 15 Limited buses on Colfax, the 83 Limited Buses on Speer and the 40 buses on Colorado Boulevard are regularly standing room only. Traffic is heavy in those areas and an alternative to buses is desperately needed if only to speed up traffic.
Light rail trains running on the street are not the answer. Street level light rail trains would create congestion by blocking streets and pose a danger to both drivers and pedestrians. Rail lines also take away valuable street parking spaces giving property owners an incentive to tear down buildings to put in commercial parking lots. Elevated rail lines or monorail would be an eyesore that would decrease property values and drive residents away.
The only answer would be subway tunnels. Not the New York or Los Angeles Subway but one like the subway in Philadelphia. That is tunnels that light rail trains would run in through crowded areas like Downtown and Cherry Creek, the same trains would run on the surface along freeways or streets outside of Downtown. That way light rail could run into Downtown without endangering lives or increasing traffic congestion. Such subways could run under Broadway from I-25 to the 16th Street Mall and under the Mall to Union Station, under Colfax from the Auraria Campus to the Colorado Boulevard or points East and under Speer Boulevard from the Platte River to Colorado Boulevard, and under Colorado Boulevard from I-70 to Hampden.
Subway lines make more sense than shuttle buses or light rail running along the street blocking traffic and putting cars and pedestrians in danger. Subway lines benefit property owners because they can move large numbers of people through a neighborhood without disturbing homes and businesses on the surface. Nor do subways require large amounts of land on the surface to be condemned and taken away from private property owners violating citizens’ rights and decreasing the tax base.
Yes, it would be expensive, but in the last decade there have been several massive construction projects in Denver that cost hundreds of millions, Coors Field, Invesco Field, the new Convention Center, the Convention Center Hotel, the new light rail line to Union Station and the New Art Museum to name just a few, yet did little or nothing for taxpayers. If our political leaders can find billions for those projects they should be able to find billions for a subway. Why not ask Denver voters for subway construction money, they might go for that it’s something that would actually benefit them?
While we’re on the subject of rail lines here, I’ve seen RTD’s plans and they seem too limited. If rail is to run all the way from Downtown to Cherry Creek why shouldn’t it run down First Avenue or Alameda to Colorado Boulevard. For that matter shouldn’t it run one the surface out Alameda to I-225 or the Buckley Air Base or Down Leetsdale and Parker Road to Hampden or even Parker? That way it could also serve all the high density residential and business areas in fast growing Aurora. Shouldn’t the train run all the way east on Colfax to I-225 or E-470? That way it could serve Fitzsimmons, historic Downtown Aurora and points farther east. Also couldn’t light rail on Colorado Boulevard run all the way to Commerce City and serve that community’s largely poor and minority population?
The next logical step in Denver’s rail expansion is subway lines under Broadway, Speer, East Colfax and Colorado Boulevard. Yes, it seems far fetched and expensive, but no more far-fetched than T-Rex and FasTracks seemed a few years ago. Voters approved both of those ambitious schemes.
The question we should ask ourselves is not whether a Denver subway is doable: but whether our leaders have the guts to put a subway proposal before Denver voters?
* "Light Rail Proposal Puts Country Club On Guard" By Jeffrey Leib, The Denver Post, Thursday, March 10, 2005.