RTD’s FasTracks to Improve Livability in Denver Area Neighborhoods and Save Thousands of Acres of Open Space
from Development
Imagine stopping at Pablo’s
in the morning for coffee and the paper as you walk to your neighborhood light rail stop at 6th and Broadway. As the train leaves the station, you sip your cappuccino and open the front section. You look out the window and shake your head in sympathy for the drivers stalled in
stop-and-go traffic trying to enter I-25 from Broadway. You take another leisurely
sip of coffee and turn to the sports. Twenty minutes later, you disembark at
the Denver
Tech Center, where you walk the 2 blocks to your office, energized and informed; ready for
another busy workday.
If FasTracks, a plan for
rail and bus service expansion in the metro area, is fully built, it will encourage the development of walkable, mixed use
urban centers like the one in the scenario above. It will provide greater transportation
options for commuters and enhance the livability of Denver’s developing neighborhoods. It will also protect thousands of acres of open space and farmland from development. This type of planning is called Transit Oriented Development (TOD). TOD planning would
provide housing, shopping and even work destinations within walking distance of transit stops.
If FasTracks is built, 9
out of 10 of Denver area households will be within 5 miles of a Park-N-Ride. These numbers indicate that mobility options will increase, and transportation costs drop as improvements
to the system are completed. Besides direct savings as a result of decreased
driving, the reduced infrastructure and service costs (when compared to traditional, sprawl-friendly transportation plans)
will result in savings for metro area taxpayers.
Colorado’s parks and
open spaces are major contributing factors to the livability of our state. If
FasTracks is adopted, up to 13,000 acres of open space could be protected from development by 2025. Some of this land would likely be open space located at the metro area’s urban edge, prime areas
for parks, hiking and biking trails, wildlife habitat and ecosystem protection—some of the most important and appealing
aspects of life in the Denver metro area.
Finally, as Denver’s
population grows, traffic and highway congestion will increase. Denver is currently
the 5th most congested city in the country, a condition that is expected to worsen if transit or highway improvements
are not made. The building of FasTracks would increase the transportation options
available in the metro region and provide alternatives to sitting in traffic during peak travel times through improved access
to Park-N-Rides and expanded bus and light rail service.
A survey of riders of the
existing Southwest Light Rail Line found that forty eight percent of weekday riders and sixty one percent of weekend riders
use the Rail Line instead of driving. A Colorado Department of Transportation
(CDOT) study indicates that traffic counts for U.S. Highway 85 have decreased since the opening of the Southwest Light Rail
Line. Commuters choosing transit over driving are already having a positive impact
on congestion.
Parents today spend twice
as much time driving as they do with their kids.
Please
write to your state legislator and tell them that you support this badly needed measure to give that time back to our families
and our communities. For more information contact Adriana at the Sierra Club Rocky Mountain
Chapter, 303-861-8819, or see the following websites:
http://www.transitalliance.org/
http://www.rmc.sierraclub.org/bec/choice.shtml
