Greetings Denver infill community! As I connect with Rick’s contacts at Kiewit, you can expect longer and more informational updates.  For now though, updates will be brief and generally based on observations.

Big News!! For the first time on the project, there is construction activity in front of and adjacent to the historic building.

Over the past 6 weeks, a new series of fences have gone up around the former parking lots that straddled the station. That’s right…I said former…because the parking lots that used to exist are now history. Also gone are the sidewalk and traffic lane of northbound 16^th Street between Wynkoop and Wewatta which were dug up to install a new sewer line underneath. Here are a couple of pictures that show how the west parking lot and 16^th Street looked about a week ago. Apologies in advance for the terrible shadows in the first pic—I was going to take a replacement, but then the snow storm hit!

No word on when 16^th Street will go back to two lanes, but for now, mall shuttles going each direction are sharing the remaining southbound lane.  Additionally, this new traffic pattern has resulted in the closure of the southbound Wynkoop mall shuttle stop.

So why is this big news? For starters, you have construction activity on a new section of Union Station…its big. But far more exciting news is that the removal of the parking lots and installation of sewer systems foreshadow construction activity on the two wing buildings and public spaces that will line the station!

In this case, it was for the DaVita headquarters project under construction next to Downtown Denver’s Millennium Bridge.

Ryan’s last update on this project wasn’t that long ago (August), but given the tower’s recent topping-off and now the beginning of glass installation, I figured I might as well offer an update. Here’s a shot of the whole building at its final height:

Another recent change has been the filling in of the DaVita building’s “missing corner” where the former light rail tracks blocked construction of the building’s corner closest to the bridge. With the opening of the new Union Station light rail station and the removal of the light rail tracks that once curved next to the Millennium Bridge, workers are now able to construct the delayed corner of the building. Here are two shots of the corner as it catches up to the rest of the building:

Finally, here’s another new improvement next to the DaVita site: the missing half of the 16th Street concrete roadbed has been installed. Once this opens, traffic and Mall Shuttle buses should flow a little more smoothly through the area than they do now. All of this is temporary, of course, due to the Wewatta detour. In 2013 when Wewatta Street is rebuilt and reopens to traffic, Chestnut and 16th will see less traffic.

This view also gives us a sense of the nice public plaza area that will be built in front of DaVita and at the base of the Millennium Bridge. Landscaped islands will surround the bridge’s cable anchors. I’m sure Rick will have more on these improvements in an upcoming Union Station update.

You may recall back in early 2010 that IMA Financial was announced as the anchor tenant for the North wing building at 18th & Wynkoop. Since then, the building’s design has been refined and construction is anticipated to begin in early 2012. USNC has recently updated their website where you’ll find new images of their proposed developments, including the renderings below of the proposed IMA Financial building. Top: View from mid-block between 17th & 18th along Wynkoop. Center: View at night. Bottom: Close-up of integration with the ped bridge over the commuter rail tracks:

While USNC is still finalizing the tenant line-up for the South wing building at 16th & Wynkoop, the design of the structure has been evolving. The South wing building will be related architecturally to the North wing building, but not a twin. The South wing building is also planned to get underway in 2012. Top: View from 17th & Wynkoop across Wynkoop Plaza. Center: View from roughly 18th & Wynkoop. Bottom: View down 16th Street from in front of the Tattered Cover:

This final view looking down Wynkoop from the intersection with 16th shows both buildings and the future Wynkoop Plaza:

Finally, USNC has a new video showing not only some of the proposed vertical developments anticipated at DUS, but the various transit elements and public spaces too. Keep in mind that the designs of the proposed buildings and public spaces shown in the video are still evolving, and many of the future buildings shown are massing models only. Nevertheless, the video presents a compelling vision of what’s to come at Denver Union Station. Visit the USNC website to see the video or use this link Denver Union Station Fly-Through to go directly to the video.

A total of three infrastructure projects are underway in the area around the Xcel Energy Zuni Plant south of the stadium, so in case you weren’t aware of what’s going on down by the mighty Platte, I’m happy to provide you with this overview. The three projects are: Floodplain and bank improvements to the South Platte and Lakewood Gulch, RTD’s West Corridor Light Rail project, and the reconstruction of the Federal Boulevard bridge over Lakewood Gulch. The projects are being coordinated in a good example of several government and utility entities and private contractors all working together.

South Platte River/Lakewood Gulch: You may have heard the old saying that when Denver was first founded, the settlers described the South Platte River as “an inch deep and a mile wide”. That wasn’t much of an exaggeration. The Platte has been prone to frequent flooding, as several great floods in the city’s history demonstrate. When the Central Platte Valley area west of Downtown was planned for redevelopment in the 1980s, fixing the flooding issues was a necessary component to the area’s redevelopment. The first flood control project was completed in 1995 on the stretch of the Platte between Cherry Creek and I-25. The second project was completed in 2001 between I-25 and Lakewood Gulch, and now the third and final stretch, from Lakewood Gulch to approximately 8th Avenue, is underway. The current project will finally remove most of the areas west of Downtown from the 100-year floodplain, and is being directed by the Urban Drainage & Flood Control District (UDFCD), which was formed in 1969 to oversee waterways and flood control in the Denver Metropolitan area.

The South Platte River/Lakewood Gulch project is widening the Platte River between Lakewood Gulch and 8th Avenue by about 40 feet on average (roughly 20 feet on each side) as well as lowering the river bed by about 5 feet. Doing so greatly increases the river channel’s capacity during heavy rain events, thereby decreasing the potential for flooding. Here’s a photo of this stretch of the Platte (courtesy of the UDFCD):

As part of the river project, the multi-use trail system along the river will be completely rebuilt and expanded, a grade separated trail crossing under 13th Ave will be installed, three drop structures (think: mini-waterfalls) will be built in the river to allow for flatter channel slopes, and the river banks will be restored with native vegetation. Here are some photos I took a few weeks ago of the river-widening/deepening effort:

The other part of this project is improvements to Lakewood Gulch. Lakewood Gulch flows east-west roughly along where W. 13th Avenue would be. West of Federal, it’s a wide landscaped corridor maintained by Denver Parks & Recreation as Lakewood Gulch Park and Sanchez Park. East of Federal, it flows along the northern edge of Rude Park up to Decatur Street, where it’s then squeezed into a narrow ditch sandwiched between industrial buildings and parking lots for the final 1,000 feet until it joins the Platte River. Here’s a satellite photo from GoogleEarth and another aerial from the UDFCD:

This final stretch of Lakewood Gulch will become a wide landscaped area similar to the Lakewood Gulch Park west of Federal. The large rectangular warehouse building is the City’s Decatur Shops Building. Its functions are being relocated and the building and its parking lots are being demolished. Lakewood Gulch will be realigned and widened through the site, with multi-use trails, a pedestrian bridge, and native vegetation added along the way. Here’s a diagram, courtesy of Matrix Design Group (my employer, who was hired to do the engineering design for the project). Also, a big thank you to my coworker Kyle for his helping me with information and a tour of the project.

RTD West Corridor Light Rail: Running through the middle of the Lakewood Gulch project is RTD’s West Corridor Light Rail line currently under construction. The Federal-Decatur Station will be located on the triangle parcel of land north of Rude Park. The flood control improvements described above will also remove RTD’s light rail line from the floodplain. The transit line will cross at-grade over Decatur Street, span the newly aligned Lakewood Gulch on a new bridge, before crossing over the Platte River. The light rail bridge over Lakewood Gulch is being built first (it’s visible in the GoogleEarth photo above) and then the new gulch will be dug underneath it. Here are two photos I took, the first one looking straight east down the light rail path with the Lakewood Gulch bridge in the foreground and the arched spans of the bridge over the Platte in the background. The second photo shows a side view of the new light rail bridge over the Platte:

New Federal Boulevard Bridge over Lakewood Gulch: The final project is the new Federal bridge over Lakewood Gulch. The existing CDOT bridge was in poor condition but its reconstruction also accommodates the RTD tracks and the reconfigured Lakewood Gulch below. Here’s another UDFCD photo from this summer showing the western half of the new bridge under construction, followed by a photo from me a few weeks ago with the new western half open to traffic and work starting on the eastern half.

There’s actually a fourth project in this area… just to the north, CDOT is getting started on rebuilding I-25 over the Platte River. If you’ve ever walked from the Invesco Field light rail station to Mile High Stadium, you’ve walked under the I-25 bridge over the Platte. That’s a two-year project that is sure to make a mess of traffic, but it’s one of the poorest-rated bridges in Colorado, so it’s good to see its reconstruction happening.

Lots of great infrastructure projects going on in Denver!

And then there’s FasTracks, another one of the most important, strategic decisions Denver has ever made.

Now we find ourselves at a point in time when these two monumental civic ventures come together. Denver International Airport, meet FasTracks. Curt Fentress, meet Santiago Calatrava.

This is the concept for the East Corridor FasTracks transit station at DIA, with a 500-room Westin Hotel on top and an extension of the airport terminal in between. What it also represents is a great step forward for our city and its infrastructure to a world-class level. Image this, along with what’s taking place at Union Station, as the gateways welcoming the world to Denver. Quite profound, if you ask me, and something that I’m happy and proud to support as a Denver citizen.

For more information, check out the cool video animation and all the details about the new South Terminal Redevelopment program at DIA at the airport website.

Great news from FasTracks – the East Corridor, traveling from Denver Union Station to DIA will host a ground breaking ceremony August 26!

The 22.8-mile corridor is currently in Final Design and will be built as the first phase (along with the Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility) of the Eagle P3 project. The corridor will have stations at Union Station, 38th/Blake, Colorado (just north of 40th near the intersection with Smith Road), Central Park (behind Wal-Mart at Quebec Square), Peoria/Smith, and 40th/Airport. RTD has recommended that Electric Mulitple Units (EMU) commuter rail transit be used on the corridor.

Also, Santiago Calvatrava will be in Denver Thursday to unveil his proposed design for a bridge and station and accompanying hotel at DIA!

The next month looks to be huge for transit in Denver! More info to come later this week.

First, let’s start with the one that is a straight-forward street reconstruction project. 15th Street is being rebuilt in concrete between the bridge over the South Platte River and the intersection of 15th/29th/Boulder/Umatilla (one of those fun grid-colliding Downtown intersections). As a Lower Highland resident, I can vouch for the fact that 15th Street through there, particularly around the Platte Street intersection, has been a bumpy ride for years. The street reconstruction is about 50% complete, as you can see from these photos:

Next is Larimer Street between 15th and 17th. This project includes reconstructing the street in concrete (from the current asphalt) as well as removing one traffic lane and widening the sidewalk with the reclaimed space. The sidewalk expansion will occur on the Writer Square/Tabor Center side of the block. While the Larimer sides of those two mixed-use complexes are not all that interesting from a pedestrian perspective, they’re more interesting than the Larimer Place/Barclay condo towers on the other side of the street. Bulb-outs (or, if you prefer, bump-outs) will be installed at each intersection, shortening the crosswalk distance across Larimer even more. Currently, Larimer is four through lanes in this area, and at 15th, the left two lanes continue as through lanes into Larimer Square and the right two lanes are right-turn-only lanes onto 15th. After the reconstruction, there will be three through lanes, and at 15th Street the left lane will continue into Larimer Square, the right lane will be right-turn-only onto 15th, and the center lane will be a combo through/right-turn lane.

Finally, there’s the Colfax/13th/Tremont intersection. Chris blogged about this project a couple of months ago. That project is now under construction. Here’s a Google Earth aerial of the existing intersection (an automobile-oriented mess) and the diagram Chris provided of the reconfigured, more-pedestrian-friendly, new intersection:

Here’s a photo of the corner I took this morning:

There are more infrastructure improvements planned for the Downtown area coming up… topics for future blogs.

The tail tracks that stretched past Union Station, crossed 15th Street, and ran along Wewatta Street to just before the bridge over Cherry Creek: they were removed this past weekend. Their removal is part of the grand plan for Union Station, and the timing of their removal was contingent upon other work on tracks north of the station being completed first.

The importance of the Wewatta tail tracks removal, however, is that the unhappy state of Wewatta between 15th and Cherry Creek will finally be fixed. That’s the last piece of Wewatta Street that hasn’t been reconstructed in concrete and reconfigured to four lanes. When Opus Northwest completed their 1400 Wewatta project in 2008, they did install nice wide sidewalks and streetscaping, but they still had to work around the tail tracks as it was too early to take them out. Meanwhile, there’s no sidewalk at all along the west side of Wewatta.

With the removal of the tail tracks, Denver Public Works plans to reconstruct this last stretch of Wewatta in concrete to match Wewatta’s 4-lane configuration between Cherry Creek and Speer, and north of 15th Street. They’ll also complete the sidewalks and improve the pedestrian crosswalks at the Wewatta/15th intersection. I believe they also plan to add left-turn arrows at the intersection. Exactly when all this will take place, I’m not sure, but I assume it will happen some time this year. Also, new traffic signals will be installed at 15th and Delgany, which will further improve mobility in the area and give pedestrians a sorely needed crosswalk to get to the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Here are a few pics I took with my phone yesterday afternoon. Top left: chopped-off tracks behind the EPA Building. Top right: former RR crossing at 15th looking south. Lower left: same crossing looking north. Lower right: stretch of Wewatta due for reconstruction.

As you can see, excavation for the underground bus terminal (the “bus box”) is underway. Rick spoke with some of the construction workers on the site and learned that the hole excavated for the bus box will be 1300 feet long by 165 feet wide by 25 feet deep. That’s nearly 200,000 cubic yards of dirt to be removed. About 54,000 cubic feet of concrete will be used to build the bus box. Additionally, the workers have started drilling holes for the shoring walls that will surround a portion of the bus box hole. Currently, they are using a huge excavator to remove the dirt and put it into dump trucks which haul it off site. Later, they will use bulldozers to push dirt into a hopper that will feed a conveyor system. Some of the dirt will be stockpiled on site to be used later for backfill behind the concrete walls of the bus box.

Rick also learned that work began last week to redirect water into the bypass water line that was installed on the Union Station side of Wewatta Street last summer. The current water line will be removed and replaced once the bus box excavation is complete. In two weeks, work will start on the new light rail station.

That’s one Union Station update down, about 199 more to go.

MONDAY EVENING UPDATE: As a follow up to this morning’s post, here are two photos from Abe from Sunday showing continued progress over the weekend: