DENVER — The Regional Transportation District reaffirmed its goal of completing four unfinished rail corridors this week, while also saying it would look into an interim plan to begin service on the route serving Boulder.
In a resolution passed at its Tuesday meeting, the RTD board expressed “its continued commitment” to completing the Northwest, North Metro, Central, and Southwest corridors, promised in a 2004 ballot measure passed by voters.
The Northwest route, which would serve Boulder and Longmont, Colo., has the most trackwork still to be done, the Boulder Daily Camera reports. The resolution passed Tuesday said the RTD would consider an interim program known as the “Peak Service Plan” to begin service on that route as quickly as possible. It would provide rush-hour-only service on the portion of the line not yet in service, from Westminster, Colo., to Longmont, with three trains during the morning rush hour and three in the evening.
In a letter to the board, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis recommended that it focus on the Northwest corridor and the Peak Service Plan.
The Northwest Corridor was orginally to have been completed by 2017, but several RTD projects have fallen well behind schedule. The G Line commuter rail service to Wheat Ridge, Colo., is set to open later this month — after originally being slated to open in October 2016. [See “Denver to open commuter rail G Line on April 26,” Trains News Wire, April 2, 2019.]
In regards to the opening date of the G Line: I bet the city officials and residents of Arvada and Wheat Ridge aren’t holding their breath until the barricades of the Park N Rides along the route are actually taken down. They’ve been through the wringer so many times because of this wireless technology that was installed to operate the crossing gates that, in my opinion, wasn’t fully tested prior to installation. That’s exactly the same issue that’s hindered the A Line.