tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post3032566444847921888..comments2024-01-12T00:32:20.149-08:00Comments on The Overhead Wire: Space Race Update: Denver's WhinersPantograph Trolleypolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-3582187232891138632008-08-25T12:00:00.000-07:002008-08-25T12:00:00.000-07:00The Boulder corridor is a mess. The big problem is...The Boulder corridor is a mess. <BR/><BR/>The big problem is that none of the three most important activity centers along the corridor (downtown Boulder, University of Colorado and Broomfield's shopping district) are along the existing freight rail line, so getting service to them, which is absolutely necessary for the success of the corridor, requires leaving that existing right-of-way.<BR/><BR/>RTD's big mistake was in trying to compromise. Essentially they decided to build both the commuter rail line and the BRT on the cheap, rather than do one of them correctly. <BR/><BR/>A better solution would have been to pick one mode, but spend the money to make that one mode hit all the necessary targets. <BR/><BR/>But here, as repeated all over the metro area, politics trumped good planning. <BR/><BR/>Ultimately FasTracks is a good program. It *will* transform Denver into a transit-friendly city. But FasTracks has so many problems that it is all but guaranteed that in 20 years there will have to be a FasTracks II to solve the problems created by FasTracks I. In RTD's worthy quest to get a transit system built they are pushing a lot of the harder problems off to the next generation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-90210633021296605492008-08-25T11:48:00.000-07:002008-08-25T11:48:00.000-07:00What they should do is ditch that stupid BRT line ...What they should do is ditch that stupid BRT line up US36. The northwest rail line parallels its direction and actually does go through population centers.<BR/><BR/>And I forget whether it was the News or the Post who said we should ditch the East Corridor line out to the airport, which of course should be one of our first priorities, along with refurbing Union Station.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com