(rshsdepot) Union Station - Denver, CO

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Union Station ideas will be unveiled
By Jim Kehl
Special to The Denver Post

Friday, September 06, 2002 - In the future, light-rail passengers at
Denver's Union Station might ride escalators from underground train
platforms to get to Wynkoop Street. Or they might simply step off the train
and walk to a taxi.

Or they could take an elevator from an above-ground light-rail station to
their parked cars.

The Union Station Advisory Committee wrestled with these and other
possibilities Thursday night. And next week, the public will get its first
glimpse at 14 renovation concepts for the venerable station, which is being
turned into a major transportation hub.

"They won't be voting on anything next week," said Eric Anderson, lead
designer of the renovation master plan.

The meeting will be informational only; no decisions about the concepts will
be made, he said.

The public can view the ideas, make comments and ask questions at a meeting
beginning at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday at the Colorado Convention Center.

Shannon Gifford, co-chairwoman of the advisory committee, said about 200
people attended the first meeting earlier this summer. She expects more
people to show up next week because they will be able to see how changes to
the station could affect Lower Downtown.

The renovation could be one of the most expensive in Denver history. The
entire construction project is expected to cost hundreds of millions of
dollars over the next 20 years.

The renovation project would establish Union Station as the hub of the
city's public transportation system.

The Regional Transportation District, the city and county of Denver, the
Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of
Governments approved $3.9 million to create the master plan. They expect to
see final recommendations by early next year.

The renovation concepts are not designs or plans; rather, they are
preliminary ideas, which could dictate where tracks are laid, where buses
will stop, how local traffic is diverted and how passengers get to and from
the multiuse transportation hub.

Each concept includes three main elements: a passenger train station, a
light-rail station and a bus facility. Each also assumes underground parking
will be added to accommodate additional travelers. From such basic ideas,
anything could develop, planners said.

Anderson said the 14 concepts were grouped in five categories to make it
easier for people to compare them. The committee will invite approximately
460 property owners from around Union Station to the meeting.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #465
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org