DenverInfill Blog

Ken and I arrived at the LRT station festivities this morning on the VIP Train. Here is a video of our arrival. Lots of happy people. And they should be happy; today’s ceremony recognized a major accomplishment by Kiewit, RTD, DUSPA and all others who are associated with this massive project.

Here’s the band.

In case you missed Mayor Hancock’s remarks at the ceremony, here it is.

And finally, here’s a stroll up the new sidewalk on 16th Street near Chestnut Place.

This afternoon, the light rail station and the mall shuttle station look like business as usual.  People, trains and buses are coming and going.

Sometime earlier today, Wewatta Street was shut down and traffic has been rerouted to the new Chestnut Place.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the party is over and it’s time to get back to work.  Excavation continues behind Union Station, work on the bus station has resumed, etc, etc.

Thank you to Hunter Sydnor of Kiewit for inviting me to ride the train this morning.

They are open!  The new light rail and mall shuttle staitons opened for business early this morning.  I took the following two photos at about 5:50 A.M.

I will provide more coverage later today with photos (and perhaps a video) of the VIP train and the ceremonies.

The first train arrived at the new light rail station at about 6:50 P.M. Wednesday. The test run was a bit of an anti-climatic affair, but it was still a momentous event. Here is a of photo of the action.

While the train was moseying into the station, another crew was busy painting lines on the new section of 16th Street in anticipation of traffic starting on Monday.

The photo count is now up to 49 so far this week on our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com.

After another tour inside the construction site yesterday, I have some detailed photos and videos for you. The following are close-up glimpses of the project and an advance peek at upcoming events.

If you would like to see the first test run of a train into the new LRT Station at Union Station, you need to be on the Millennium Bridge at 6:00 P.M. today (Wednesday, August 10, 2011). The electrical systems will be turned on, and a train will roll in. The official start of light rail train service is Monday, August 15, 20911 at about 7:00 A.M.

Click here to see a video of the light rail station that I shot yesterday afternoon.  It will give you a sense for the experience of arriving by train and jumping on the mall shuttle at the new stations.

Here are some close-up still shots. Richard, a DenverInfill visitor, took the first photo on Sunday. I took the others on Monday.

Brennan, the last photo above partially answers your question about signage.  Notice the “W Jeffco-Golden Line” on the new sign. Furthermore, RTD expects to upgrade signs at other stations well in advance of the opening of new lines.

Continuing with my experiment of inserting videos into this blog, here’s another one that gives you a tour of the inside of the underground bus facility.

To my eye, the Chestnut Pavilion and the vent tubes are attractive additions. Richard also contributed the photo on the left.

The skylights are a nice touch above and below ground. I took both of the following photos on Monday afternoon.  The one on the right is obviously from inside the bus station.

I don’t pretend to be aware of advances in tool technology, but the following photo shows a very effective tool. Using suction and a hydraulic hoist, the tool is lifting that 800 pound slab of granite into place in the 16th Street sidewalk. This thing is in the lead for the coveted “2011 Rick Anstey Cool Tool of the Year Award.”

Thank you to Jerry Nery, RTD’s DUS Project Manager, for yesterday’s tour inside the construction fence. As a result of the generous donation of his time, this is a banner week for Union Station project junkies. So far, I’ve uploaded 44 photos to our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com. Several of the photos are from inside the bus station, including the mechanical rooms.  My thanks to Richard for the nine photos that he took from the Millennium Bridge.