What's New Archive

Web Update from March 7, 2008

March Public Workshop Materials Available Online

Below is a list of the materials from the Gold Line EIS public workshops on March 4 and 6. At the workshops, the Gold Line Team provided an update on refinements to the Gold Line Preferred Alternative.

• Click here to access the PowerPoint presentation from the workshop
  
• Click here to download the handouts distributed at the workshops
  
• Click here to view the workshop display boards

Web Update from January 30, 2008

Gold Line Public Workshops to be Held March 4 and 6 to Discuss Potential Preferred Alternative Refinements

In addition to providing you with an update on the progress being made in the Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement, we would like to share details of our next public workshops, which will occur on March 4th and 6th.

As you are likely aware, the Gold Line Preferred Alternative is to run electric commuter rail trains (EMU) from Denver Union Station to Ward Road in Wheat Ridge in the BNSF/Union Pacific railroad right of way. Portions of the Gold Line Preferred Alternative are located in both Union Pacific Railroad (UP) property and BNSF Railroad property. RTD has been negotiating with both railroads about the properties needed for the Gold Line and other FasTracks corridors.

As part of RTD's system-wide FasTracks negotiations with the Union Pacific Railroad, the UP recently presented RTD with a package of properties, including portions of the Gold Line alignment, that were unaffordable. RTD is still negotiating with the UP and anticipates reaching an agreement to purchase several UP properties for FasTracks -- including portions of the Gold Line Preferred Alternative- in the upcoming months.

However, to keep the Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement progressing and the line on schedule to open by 2016, we have decided to include an evaluation in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) of potential refinements to portions of the Preferred Alternative where the UP has indicated the greatest interest in how the Gold Line Preferred Alternative would relate to their current or future operations. Those include areas coming out of Denver Union Station and the rail yards between 38th Avenue and Pecos.

We are now working to identify potential refinements paralleling the UP alignment that appear to be most feasible and least impactful. We will determine the viable refinements in February and then present them to the public and gather input at the following public workshops:

• Tuesday, March 4, 6-8 p.m., Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada
  

• Thursday, March 6, 6-8 p.m., Highlands Masonic Center, 3550 Federal Blvd. in Denver

Your input at these meetings will help inform our continued refinement and analysis. The refinements will be evaluated using the same criteria and level of detail as the Preferred Alternative and included in the DEIS. We plan to complete our analysis this spring and summer and publish the DEIS by the end of 2008.

As we have done throughout the Environmental Impact Statement process, local government, public and agency input will be considered at key milestones in our analysis of these refinements.

We look forward to seeing you at our March public workshops and continuing to partner with you as we further our analysis and design of the Gold Line.


Web Update from January 9, 2008

New Stations Webpage Contains Updated Maps and Information

In response to an increased interest in Gold Line station locations, the project team has added a new Stations section to the website. The webpage contains updated maps and information for the seven proposed Gold Line stations. To access the new section, please click here.

The proposed stations for the Gold Line include 38th, Pecos, Federal, Sheridan, Olde Town, Arvada Ridge and Ward Road. RTD is responsible for planning the "footprint" of the station (e.g. where the platform, parking, bus drop-off and kiss-n-Ride will be located), while the local jurisdictions conduct the planning for the area surrounding each station.

The Gold Line Team has coordinated closely with the local governments and the communities to develop its current station plans. Issue Focused Teams were held in April 2007 and again in August 2007 to discuss preliminary station locations and gather public input.

The Gold Line Team will hold more in-depth work sessions for each individual station next spring. Known as "station design charettes," these small public workshops provide the public with an opportunity to provide input into the more detailed decisions on station design. Information on these workshops will be publicized in early 2008.


Web Update from October 5, 2007

Gold Line Public Workshops - October 23 and 24

Please plan to join us at one of the upcoming public workshops for the RTD FasTracks Gold Line project:

Both meetings will begin promptly at 6 p.m. with a general presentation. The remaining time will be reserved for one-on-one interaction with members of the project team at information stations.

At the workshops, you can review updates on the design and engineering of the Gold Line Preferred Alternative (electric commuter rail on the BNSF/Union Pacific Railroad alignment). The meetings will also provide a presentation of the preliminary results of the impact analysis conducted on the Gold Line. Once completed, these findings will be presented in the Draft Environmental Statement, scheduled for release
early next year.

We look forward to seeing you at the workshops!


Web Update from July 25, 2007

Electric Commuter Rail on the Railroad Alignment Selected as Preferred Alternative

The RTD FasTracks Gold Line team announced today that the RTD Board has accepted the project team's recommendation to select electric commuter rail on the BNSF/Union Pacific Railroad alignment as the preferred alternative for the Gold Line. Over the past month, input gathered from local governments, regulatory agencies and the community showed overwhelming support for the team's recommendation.

The RTD Board also accepted the Gold Line Team's recommendation to eliminate the streetcar alternative, which was proposed to run on arterial streets including 38th Avenue, Harlan and Ridge Road, from consideration for the Gold Line.

Over the past two months, the RTD Board was considering asking the Gold Line and East Corridor Teams to evaluate both electric and diesel powered commuter rail in their Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). By accepting the Gold Line Team's recommendation, the RTD Board has determined that electric commuter rail will be the only type of train technology evaluated in the Gold Line EIS.

The Gold Line Team will now begin the more detailed engineering and environmental analysis needed to get federal approval for the project. Another round of public meetings will be held in the fall to discuss the preliminary findings from the team's more detailed evaluations of the alternative. The analysis will be summarized in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that is expected to be published by early 2008.

For more information, or to submit a comment on the Gold Line EIS, please visit our website at www.rtdgoldline.com.


Web Update from June 25, 2007

Gold Line Preferred Alternative Update and Public Workshop Reminder

After consideration of the feedback we have received, the Gold Line Team's recommendation for a Preferred Alternative is Commuter Rail on the BN/UP (railroad) alignment using Electric Multiple Unit (a.k.a EMU or electric commuter rail) to connect Denver Union Station to Ward Road with 7 stations.

The RTD Board will make two important decisions related to this recommendation in July.

• On July 10, the Board will vote to include "Commuter Rail on the BN/UP" in its revised application to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to reserve RTD's spot in line for FTA's Public Private Partnership Pilot Program (Penta-P). FTA does not require RTD to specify a specific type of commuter rail in this application. More detail about Public Private Partnerships and FTA's Penta-P initiative will be available at the public workshops.

• On July 24 -- as part of its system-wide evaluation of commuter rail technology -- the Board will either accept "EMU on the BN/UP" as the Gold Line's Preferred Alternative or ask the Gold Line Team to evaluate both EMU and DMU (a.k.a. diesel commuter rail) in the Environmental Impact Statement.
  

As a reminder, here are the details of public workshops:


If you are unable to attend one of the workshops or would like to submit comments before/after the workshops, you can do so by clicking here.

Thank you for your continued involvement in the Gold Line EIS. We look forward to discussing the Preferred Alternative recommendations with you at the public workshops this week.


Web Update from June 14, 2007

Gold Line Recommends Electric Commuter Rail as Preferred Alternative
Public Review & Comment Will Be Accepted at June 26 & 27 Meetings

The RTD FasTracks Gold Line team is recommending the selection of commuter rail transit operating in the current BNSF/Union Pacific railroad alignment as the Preferred Alternative for the FasTracks corridor between Denver Union Station and Ward Road. The team is also recommending the elimination of a streetcar option that is proposed to run on local streets including 38th Avenue, Harlan Street and Ralston Road.

The selection of commuter rail over streetcar will provide an alternative to the community that is nearly two times faster, will likely carry 50 percent more riders and could allow RTD to leverage federal dollars necessary to complete the project.

Additionally, analysis of public comments submitted to the project shows that about 60 percent of Gold Line stakeholders that commented on the project prefer commuter rail over streetcar.

The public will have the opportunity to review and comment on the Regional Transportation District (RTD) findings during two public meetings: Tuesday, June 26 at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada; and Wednesday, June 27 at the Highlands Masonic Center, 3550 Federal Blvd., Denver. Both meetings are scheduled from 6-8 p.m.

"Our studies show that commuter rail in the railroad alignment provides the best transportation results, performs well with environmental measures and it is broadly supported by the community," said Liz Telford, project manager for the Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement. "Now, it is vital that we hear from the public as we continue to work with local and federal agencies to bring this recommendation to the RTD Board."

If accepted by the RTD Board, the estimated $553 million (2015, year of expenditure) commuter rail alternative will be further refined and studied as the Gold Line Team prepares an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), scheduled for release in the spring or summer of 2008. The Gold Line Team will continue to seek community input throughout the process.

The commuter rail alternative would include seven stations to be located near 38th/44th Avenue; Pecos Street; Federal Boulevard; Sheridan Boulevard; Olde Town (Arvada); Ridge Road and Ward Road. At the request of the RTD Board, the Gold Line team will further compare diesel and electric commuter rail technologies until the Board makes a decision about whether the RTD system should operate one or two types of commuter rail trains.

The Gold Line team found numerous benefits associated with commuter rail when compared to the streetcar alternative. From a transportation and mobility perspective, travel time for the commuter rail is nearly twice as fast as the streetcar and approximately 50 percent more transit users are projected to use the commuter rail line than the streetcar. From a financial perspective, it appears that the commuter rail alternative may qualify for obtaining federal funding, while the streetcar alternative definitely would not. This is important to the Gold Line as FasTracks planned for half of the $553 million Gold Line budget to be paid for with federal funds. The commuter rail alternative also has fewer environmental impacts, avoids in-street construction and has less impact on vehicle traffic.

The Gold Line is one of two FasTracks corridors the RTD Board is considering for a Federal Transit Administration public-private partnership pilot program. This unique project-funding and delivery option would likely not be available with the streetcar alternative.

The Gold Line team will review public comments received and will present the Locally Preferred Alternative to the RTD Board of Directors on July 10. Public input can be submitted during the meetings, in writing or at www.rtdgoldline.com.


Web Update from June 8, 2007

Public Workshops Scheduled to Select a Preferred Alternative

The Gold Line team will host two public workshop meetings to discuss the team's recommended Preferred Alternative:


At the upcoming public meetings, the team will summarize how it refined the Gold Line project alternatives in an effort to optimize their performance and minimize their impacts.  The team will also provide an overview of how their analysis led to the recommendation. Public comments can be submitted at these workshops, online at www.rtdgoldline.com, by emailing comments@rtdgoldline.com or by calling (303) 299-2000. The team's recommendation and a summary of comments submitted by the public, local governments and regulatory agencies will be considered by the RTD Board on July 10.

If the recommendation is accepted by the RTD Board and the Federal Transit Administration, the Gold Line Team will begin the more detailed engineering and environmental analysis needed to get federal approval for the project. The public will remain actively involved throughout the process.  The analysis will be summarized in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that is expected to be published in spring/summer 2008.


Web Update from May 29, 2007

FasTracks Annual Program Evaluation Update

You have likely seen a significant amount of recent media coverage about the FasTracks Annual Program Evaluation. The results of the evaluation were presented to the RTD Board at its annual retreat on May 19, 2007.

The five-month program evaluation took an in-depth look at costs, revenues, financing options and delivery methods for the entire FasTracks system and each individual FasTracks project. We would like to draw your attention to two elements related to the evaluation that have a direct relationship to the Gold Line.

Commuter Rail Technology

The RTD Board is analyzing the cost impacts/potential savings of using a single commuter rail vehicle technology (either diesel or electric powered) for all FasTracks commuter rail corridors or using multiple types of vehicles on the commuter rail corridors. The Gold Line Team is currently only evaluating electric commuter rail and streetcar for the Gold Line. The team eliminated diesel commuter rail from its evaluations late last year based on overwhelming support from the public for the electric commuter rail technology and because of the relative operational and cost
similarities of electric commuter rail to light rail, which was the technology originally proposed in FasTracks.

Public Private Partnerships

The RTD Board is examining a number of financial strategies to address FasTracks' cost challenges. One strategy being analyzed is utilizing public private partnerships to deliver certain FasTracks corridors. The Gold Line is one of the corridors being considered for this type of financing. This would allow the agency to partner with the private sector to complete the Gold Line and not charge taxpayers anything more.

The RTD Board is expected to provide policy direction on these and other issues as early as their June 19 board meeting. You can learn more about these issues and provide input to the RTD Board via multiple channels:

• Tuesday, June 12, 5 p.m.  RTD FasTracks Monitoring Committee, RTD Headquarters, 1600 Blake St., Denver, T&D meeting rooms. The committee will discuss the technology issue. The meeting is open to the public, but there will not be opportunities to provide input.
• Thursday, June 14, 6 p.m. FasTracks Citizen's Advisory Committee Quarterly Meeting, RTD Headquarters, 1600 Blake St., Denver, T&D meeting rooms. Public comment on vehicle technology will be taken at this meeting.
• Tuesday, June 19, 5:30 p.m. Regular RTD Board Meeting, RTD Headquarters, 1600 Blake St., Denver, T&D meeting rooms. The board will make decisions on commuter rail technology and public private partnerships. Public comment will be taken.
• E-mail comments to comments@rtd-fastracks.com.
  

You can also contact your elected board members directly. The Board members representing districts in the Gold Line are Juanita Chacon, District C (720-297-3005, juanita.chacon@rtd-denver.com); Wally Pulliam, District L (303.421.9803, wally.pulliam@rtd-denver.com); and David Ruchman, District M (303-238-8424, d.ruchman@comcast.net).


Citizens Provide Input on Station Platforms and Parking

Throughout the month of April, citizens from throughout the Gold Line corridor met
with members of the project team and local municipalities to provide input on the location of station platforms and parking facilities.  During these Issue Focused Team work sessions, members of the public were presented with the various options for each of the stations for the RTD FasTracks Gold Line.

There are two remaining alternatives for the Gold Line: the EMU: BN/UP alternative, which proposes using electric commuter rail in the existing railroad right of way, and the Streetcar: Harlan alternative, which would use modern streetcar on arterial streets, including 38th Avenue and Harlan. The EMU alternative is proposed to have seven stations, while the streetcar alternative is proposed to have 13.

Following a kick-off meeting in early April for all participants, a total of six Issue
Focused Team work sessions were held. Teams were divided by geographic area, with three groups being convened for each of the two alternatives. 


Gold Line Alternatives Continue to be Refined

Since the last round of public meetings in early February, the RTD FasTracks Gold Line project team has continued to refine the alternatives to improve their performance and, when possible, minimize their impacts.

In particular, many members of the public had asked that RTD evaluate possible ways to improve the travel time and ridership of the Streetcar: Harlan alternative to make it more competitive.

The project team has identified several ways to improve the streetcar alternative, including evaluations that would give streetcars an exclusive right of way on 38th Avenue during peak travel hours. (Previously, the Streetcar: Harlan alternative was proposed to operate "mixed flow" -- or in existing travel lanes -- for 80% of its route at
all times.) However, even with these refinements, projected ridership is still much lower than the electric commuter rail alternative. 

The results of alternative refinements were presented to the Station Platform and Parking Issue Focused Teams in April. You can download the presentations containing the results of the alternative refinements by clicking here.


Web Update from March 9, 2007

Gold Line Alternatives Narrowed to Two
Light Rail Alternatives Removed from Further Consideration
 
The RTD FasTracks Gold Line project team announced today that, from the four alternatives just evaluated, it has removed two of the alternatives from further consideration for the Gold Line Environmental Impact Study (EIS). The two alternatives removed are the Light Rail Alternatives on 38th Ave. to Harlan and on 38th Ave. to Sheridan.

The two alternatives that remain include the electric trains on the railroad alignment and the modern streetcar on the 38th and Harlan alignment. These alternatives will undergo further refinement and evaluation in the next phase of analysis.

The Gold Line project team made the recommendation to take the light rail alternatives off the table in late January because they are over budget and would create greater impacts without providing much better service than other alternatives. The team received overwhelming support from the general public, local governments, and regional, state and federal regulatory agencies to continue evaluating the EMU: BN/UP alternative, which most closely resembles what was shown originally in FasTracks. There was a mix of support and opposition for continuing to evaluate the Streetcar: Harlan alternative, which would operate modern streetcar on arterial streets including 38th Avenue and Harlan Street. 

The Gold Line team is now beginning to investigate ways to improve the performance and minimize the impacts of the electric commuter rail and streetcar alternatives. Then the team will conduct more detailed evaluations to select a Preferred Alternative for the Gold Line.


Legislation Introduced to Indemnify Railroads of Liability
 
On March 6, 2007, Senate Majority Leader Joan Fitz-Gerald and Representative Claire Levy introduced Senate Bill 07-219.  The bill would allow RTD to indemnify the BNSF and Union Pacific railroads from liability for any incidents that occur in their rights-of-way.

This bill is important to the Gold Line because one of the Gold Line alternatives proposes using electrified commuter rail in an existing freight train right of way. To do so, RTD must secure agreements with both the BNSF and Union Pacific railroads. The BNSF is requiring transit providers nationwide - including RTD - to exempt them of liability in the event that an incident should occur in their right-of-way.  As a special district established by the state legislature, RTD currently does not have legal authority to assume that type of liability. If this bill were to pass, RTD would be able to indemnify the railroads as BNSF has required, opening the door to further negotiations.

RTD is also working with the American Public Transportation Association and transit providers across the country to consider establishing a national insurance pool to lessen the burden on individual transit agencies.


Web Update from February 2, 2007

Gold Line Public Meetings to Take Place Next Week

As you are likely aware, the next round of Gold Line public meetings will take place next week on February 5th and 7th.  All are welcome to attend this third round of public meetings for the Gold Line Environmental Impact Study (EIS). At the meetings, the Gold Line Team will share the results of their detailed evaluations and will inform the public of their recommendations on which alternatives should continue to be evaluated. 
 
Details for the meetings are as follows:
 


Local Community Gets Involved Through Issue-Focused Teams

More than 100 community volunteers from the Gold Line corridor participated in neighborhood-specific Issue Focused Team meetings during the month of January. During these small work sessions, the team members partnered with project representatives to develop ideas on how to address challenges and maximize opportunities for the different alternatives. Six different groups were convened, each for a specific area of the Gold Line corridor, including 38th Avenue East, 38th Avenue West, Harlan/Sheridan, Southwest Adams County/East Arvada, Olde Town Arvada, and Ridge Road/Ward Road.

In the work sessions, team members had in-depth discussions about their specific area of the Gold Line. The teams offered recommendations to enhance the alternatives under consideration.


Gold Line Team Coordinates with Local Planning Efforts

As RTD conducts the Gold Line Environmental Impact Study (EIS), many local municipalities are busy conducting or preparing for their own station-area planning efforts.

Development plans for the areas surrounding proposed stations are separate from the Gold Line EIS, but many towns are integrating RTD's proposed alternatives into their own planning efforts. The RTD FasTracks team has been working with the local municipalities to provide input and guidance.

Transit-oriented developments (TODs) are pedestrian-friendly communities, often built around a mass transit station, that encourage residents and workers to use alternative means of transportation. The City of Wheat Ridge has been working with the non-profit Wheat Ridge 2020 to organize planning meetings for the proposed end-of-line station at Ward Road.  Similarly, the City of Arvada held planning meetings last year and recently revealed its conceptual plans for land use around potential station areas in Arvada. Adams County is also working on development plans around the proposed Pecos station. Meanwhile, the City and County of Denver has decided to postpone its planning meetings for the proposed 38th Avenue and Inca station until summer of 2007 to allow time for a preferred alternative(s) to be selected for the Gold Line.

Even though station area planning is managed by the individual cities and not RTD, the Gold Line team will work together with the municipalities to integrate land use plans surrounding proposed stations. 

The Related Links section of the website has links to the websites for local municipal station-area planning efforts.


Web Update from November 17, 2006

Neighborhood Working Groups Forming
 
RTD is recruiting individuals interested in volunteering for working groups that will help to identify and solve neighborhood-specific issues related to the alternatives still being evaluated for the Gold Line.  This is part of the Gold Line's Issue Focused Team program that creates opportunities for small groups to partner with the project team to enhance the alternatives under consideration.
 
The work groups being formed are:

• 38th Avenue
• Sheridan Blvd.
• Harlan Street
• Olde Town Arvada/Ridge Road
• Southwest Adams County/East Arvada 

Teams will be convened as needed for dynamic work sessions where the public will partner with project representatives in small, focused groups to develop ideas on how to address challenges and maximize opportunities for the different alternatives.
 
The first series of neighborhood work sessions will occur in early January.  These meetings will include:

• Detailed discussion of train technologies and how each alternative was refined and enhanced;
• Summary of the neighborhood-specific and project-wide benefits and impacts of each alternative; and 
• Input on how to make each alternative a better community investment.
  

If you are interested in volunteering for a neighborhood work group, email your contact information and the group on which you'd like to serve to info@rtdgoldline.com.
 
 
Where Did These Routes Come From?
Why RTD is Required to Evaluate Alternative Alignments
 
It's a question that the Gold Line team has often heard in the past few months:  What's the point of looking at alternative alignments?  Why not just stick with the original route presented in FasTracks that uses the BNSF and Union Pacific railroads right of way?
 
The law requires RTD to evaluate more than just one alternative. This is a mandatory requirement of an Environmental Impact Statement. While the BNSF/UP railroad route is still a viable option using electric commuter rail, RTD is required by federal regulations to "rigorously explore and objectively evaluate a reasonable range of alternatives" before any final decisions can be made.
 
In addition, RTD has a community responsibility to develop the best transit system that serves as many people as efficiently as possible.  We heard from many people that the best transit system for the Gold Line study area may be on a different alignment. 
 
When our project kicked of with the Scoping phase, alignment was the topic most commented upon by the public.  40% of the comments about alignments specifically asked RTD to evaluate alternate routes that would provide more direct access to the population centers and neighborhoods in the corridor like northwest Denver.
 
RTD must complete substantial evaluations for each alternative considered in detail so that the public can assess their comparative merits - allowing you to provide informed input throughout the EIS process.  When an alternative is removed from consideration, RTD is also required to justify the reasons behind the elimination.
 
Our project team used field surveys and other data to evaluate every possible east/west and north/south street in the corridor to identify routes that had potential for operating rail transit. Roads with narrow rights of way or that would require significant property acquisitions were eliminated from consideration.  The best candidates were then further refined, evaluated and shown to the public for feedback.
 
Public input is critical to making smart decisions for the Gold Line that are in the best interest of the community. We encourage you to continue to stay involved and let us know your feedback by submitting your comments.
 

What's Next for the Gold Line?

Now that the RTD Gold Line team has selected four alternatives to carry forward into detailed evaluation, the coming months will be spent refining those alternatives and conducting in-depth analysis on a number of different of criteria. The Gold Line team recently announced that the alternatives selected for detailed evaluation for the next phase of the Environmental Impact Statement are:

• Alternative 3: EMU on BN-UP corridor
• Alternative 6DD: Light rail, 38th Avenue to Sheridan Boulevard to Ridge Road 
• Alternative 6G: Light rail, 38th Avenue to Harlan Street to Marshall Street
• Alternative 7BB: Streetcar on 38th to Harlan Street to Marshall Street, with two options for station locations
  

During this next level of evaluation, the project team will refine the four alternatives in an effort to reduce impacts and maximize benefits.  The team will also conduct more detailed analysis that will provide extensive detail on each of the remaining alternatives.
 
Some of the details that will be evaluated/identified during this phase include:

• Preliminary station locations;
• Parking demand at each station; 
• Updated ridership (broken down by station); 
• Recommended adjustments to existing bus operations; 
• Additional data on environmental impacts; 
• Updated information on potential property impacts; and 
• Updated cost and travel time information.
  

The results of this analysis will be presented at the next round of public meetings, which will be held sometime early next year. RTD will then gather public input on the remaining alternatives and use the community's feedback to help select the preferred alternative(s) for the Gold Line in spring of 2007. 
 
In the meantime, the public can continue submit their comments through the project website (www.rtdgoldline.com), via phone by calling 303-299-6000, or by mailing comments to RTD FasTracks Gold Line, c/o GBSM, 600 17th St. #2020-S, Denver, CO 80202.


Web Update from October 30, 2006

Gold Line Narrows Alternatives to Four Routes
Numerous Alternatives Eliminated from Further Consideration

After taking extensive comment from the community and conducting additional technical analysis, the RTD FasTracks Gold Line team has eliminated several alternatives from consideration, while modifying other alternatives in response to public input.

The remaining four alternatives will undergo a third, more detailed level of analysis of their benefits and impacts.  The results of this detailed analysis will be presented at the next Gold Line public meetings in early 2007 prior to the selection of a Preferred Alternative.

The four alternatives that remain under consideration for the Gold Line are:

• Alternative 3: EMU on BN-UP corridor
• Alternative 6DD: Light rail, 38th Avenue to Sheridan Boulevard to Ridge Road
• Alternative 6G: Light rail, 38th Avenue to Harlan Street to Marshall Street
• Alternative 7BB: Streetcar on 38th to Harlan Street to Marshall Street, with two options for station locations
  

The alternatives that are no longer being considered for the Gold Line are:

• Alternative 4: Diesel Commuter Rail on the BN-UP Rail Corridor, pending further RTD Board discussion
• Alternative 6B: Light rail on 38th Avenue to Lowell Boulevard to 52nd Avenue to Ridge Road 
• Alternative 6BB: Light rail on 38th Avenue to Lowell Boulevard to 52nd Avenue to Sheridan to Ralston Road to Ridge Road 
• Alternative 6D: Light Rail on 38th Avenue to Sheridan to Ralston Road to Ward Road 
• Alternative 6F: Light Rail on 38th Avenue to Lowell Boulevard to 52nd Avenue to Sheridan Boulevard to the BN/UP corridor 
• Alternative 7A: Electric commuter rail on the BN-UP Rail Corridor to a transfer station at Sheridan Boulevard, streetcar west of Sheridan to Ward Road 
• Alternative 7B: Streetcar on 38th Avenue to Lowell Boulevard to 52nd Avenue to Ralston Road to Olde Wadsworth, then west on neighborhood streets to Ward Road
  

More detailed information on the alternatives still under consideration can be found on the project Web site by clicking here.

"We want to use the right rail technology in the right setting, so understanding the perspective of local communities is critical," said Liz Telford, project manager for the Gold Line.

As a result, electric commuter rail will be under consideration on railroad corridor routes, light rail on routes serving primarily commercial areas and streetcar on routes through both commercial and residential areas.

Since the Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) began, our project team has evaluated more than 20 possible alternatives that vary in route, type of train and station location. Many alternatives were ruled out early on -- either because of impacts, technical unfeasibility, unworkable cost or lack of community support. Eight different Gold Line alternatives were selected to move into Level 2 analysis, and those alternatives were presented at public workshops in early October.   

The remaining four alternatives will continue to be refined and undergo increasingly detailed analysis, until a preferred alternative(s) is selected in spring of 2007.

We continue to encourage the public to provide input into the decision making process.  Comments can be submitted through the project Web site (www.rtdgoldline.com), by email (comments@rtdgoldline.com), via phone by calling 303-299-6000, or by mail (RTD FasTracks Gold Line, c/o GBSM, 600 17th St. #2020-S, Denver, CO 80202).

Thank you for your continued involvement in the Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement.


Web Update from September 5, 2006

RTD Gold Line Update

Thank you for signing up to receive updates on the RTD FasTracks Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement.  We hope you were able to make it to one of the scoping meetings on Aug. 22nd and 23rd, but even if we missed you, there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved.

Gold Line Public Workshops Scheduled for Early October

The next round of public meetings for the Gold Line has been scheduled for Oct. 4th and 5th. These meetings will go into more detail on the potential alternatives for the Gold Line and will provide an excellent opportunity for you to give your comments on the project. Details for the meetings are as follows:

        Wednesday, Oct 4th | 6-8:30 p.m.
        Arvada Center at 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada

        Thursday, Oct. 5th | 6-8:30 p.m.
        Highlands Masonic Center at 3550 Federal Blvd. in Denver


Scoping Period Closes at the End of September    

It's not too late to submit scoping comments! The official end of the scoping period is September 25th.  All comments received before then will be compiled in a scoping report that summarizes the feedback received from the public and finalizes the scope of the project. Specifically, the project team is looking for public comment on the following issues during scoping:

• The Purpose and Need of the project
  
• The methods and criteria that the team should use to evaluate potential alternatives for the Gold Line 
• Which alternatives should be considered for the Gold Line   
• The project's schedule
  

Comments can be submitted online at www.rtdgoldline.com or by sending an e-mail to comments@rtdgoldline.com.
 
Comments can also be mailed to:


Sign Up for Issue Focused Teams
 
During the Gold Line EIS, teams of community members will be formed to work with technical staff to develop solutions to specific issues of interest. These Issue-Focused Teams will meet on an as-needed basis to generate ideas and solutions for specific topics as issues arise.
 
The Gold Line Team is currently recruiting community members for an Alternative Alignments Issue-Focused Team to explore other alignment options in the corridor.  Future Issue-Focused Teams could include anything from individual station issues to noise and vibration.
 
If you would like to join an Issue-Focused Team, please send an email to Megan Lane at meganlane@gbsm.com and let her know what team would interest you. We also want to know what specific topics related to the Gold Line you think merit their own Issue-Focused Teams.