There’s just something about watching concrete get poured and leveled that I find quite appealing.

For our first example, let’s talk about bidirectional on-street bike lanes. In Denver, our major off-street bike trails, like along Cherry Creek or the Platte River, are bidirectional, but do we have anything in Denver like these examples below from Montreal?

Without curbs:

With curbs:

The street in Montreal without curbs was a local residential street with very little traffic. The street with curbs was a bit more of a major neighborhood street, something similar to, say, E. 11th Avenue in Capitol Hill.

I saw many examples of this in Montreal; in fact, I think I saw more bidirectional on-street bike lanes than unidirectional lanes. They appear to treat bicycles as a true transportation mode worthy of its own system within the public right-of-way rather than as something you accommodate if there’s enough room on the street to paint a few lines without inconveniencing the motor vehicle system too much.

The Downtown Denver Partnership has recently asked the city to study the possibility of a bidirectional bike lane system on 15th Street in Downtown to connect Civic Center with LoDo. Where else do you think Denver should or could implement bidirectional bike lanes? What routes would bike commuters suggest? Where do you think the right-of-way width/configuration would allow for bidirectional lanes? Discuss.

By the way, the city is currently updating its bicycle and pedestrian master plans through an effort called Denver Moves. If you are interested in this issue and want to provide feedback to the city on this important topic, please get involved in Denver Moves. For more info, visit: http://denvermoves.org/

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.

Back in the 1990s when the area was mostly rail yards and warehouses, the Confluence property was zoned PRV (for Platte River Valley). The PRV zone was intended to be a placeholder zone for the valley until new developments would trigger rezonings on a site-by-site basis. In 2001, the property was rezoned to R-MU-30. At that time, development in the CPV was just taking off and residential in the area was still rather untested; plus, an Xcel Energy electrical substation occupied the adjacent parcel at the confluence of the creek and river. So, it was felt that the new R-MU-30 zone, which required a boxy LoDo-style building envelope was the best solution for the site. The resulting structure would have been 90 feet tall, stepping down to 60 feet, and covering the entire site from property line to property line, with facades the length of a football field facing Little Raven in the “front” and facing the electrical substation in the “back”. No project, however, materialized.

In 2007, developer Ray Suppa (who built the Palace Lofts in LoDo and the Waterside Lofts at Wewatta and Cherry Creek) started the process with the city to rezone the site. By 2007, conditions had changed in the Central Platte Valley. Residential development was booming and projects such as the Glass House reflected a trend for taller buildings and higher densities, and the Xcel Energy substation had been replaced with the new Confluence Park Plaza. That rezoning would have allowed a building up to 140 feet in height for a portion of the site. But before the rezoning ever made it to City Council for final consideration, the request was pulled. Mr. Suppa and others felt it was best to step back and take a fresh look at what would be best for the site.

In 2008, Mr. Suppa, Councilwoman Judy Montero, and the Community Planning & Development department decided to ask the Urban Land Institute for its opinion. The ULI convened a Technical Assistance Panel, which I had the honor to chair, to study the Confluence site. Our panel consisted of prominent architects, planners, and developers from both the Denver area as well as from out of state. After much research and interviews with dozens of stakeholders and other urban design experts, the panel concluded that the R-MU-30 zoning was no longer appropriate for the site and recommended that the site’s density be reconfigured into a point tower at Little Raven and the creek, with a shorter structure at the corner of 15th and Little Raven. By shifting the density upward, it also would allow for a good percentage of the site to become open space integrated with Confluence Park Plaza.

In August 2009, after a year of extensive outreach by Mr. Suppa to the CPV neighborhood and the broader Downtown community, the Denver City Council approved a rezoning of the site to PUD (Planned Unit Development). The new PUD zoning reflects the panel’s recommendations and provides for a high-rise up to 350 feet in height at Little Raven and Cherry Creek, and a mid-rise structure (maximum height of 65 feet) at the 15th & Little Raven corner with a form that creates a strong urban edge and identity to the site and connections with the adjacent parks. Brownstone-style residences along Little Raven connect the two buildings. Parking would be accommodated on three underground levels. The mid-rise at the corner would include ground-floor retail and five floors of residential and/or office uses above.  The high-rise would have 32 or 33 floors of residential uses. Overall, the project would contain approximately 385,000 gross square feet. The project will also seek LEED certification.

Courtesy of OZ Architecture, here are a few images. Please note: the buildings have not yet been designed. These images reflect only the form, scale, and orientation of the project under its new PUD zoning. The actual architectural design of the project is yet to come.

Conceptual site plan (left) and conceptual rendering (right):

Two more images from OZ showing different tower concepts from vantage points nearby:

In May 2010, the city approved the Design Standards and Guidelines for the project, which articulate to a level of detail not found in the PUD zoning various aspects of the project including building form and orientation, landscaping, ground-floor treatment, etc.

Finally, some of you have no doubt noticed that the existing buildings at the site are being demolished. Actually, not all of the site will be razed at this time. The existing buildings consist of a two-story structure right at the corner of 15th and Little Raven, and a one-story structure closer to the Confluence Park Plaza that stretches all the way back to Cherry Creek.  A portion of the one-story building near Cherry Creek will be retained and made available as two art studio type rental units. This is an interim situation, until such time as the full project moves forward. Which brings me to the question many are probably wondering: when will the tower project get underway? Like everything else these days, the answer is basically: “it depends on the market”.   However, given Mr. Suppa’s track record with successfully building major projects in the Downtown Denver area and the high-profile and attractive nature of the site, I would say that this project is likely to be one we will see happen before too long.

Here are a couple of demolition photos taken Friday by my friend Matt:

Let’s hope the economy continues its recovery so we can see the Confluence project move forward soon. This is going to be an exciting addition to the Central Platte Valley and Downtown Denver.

With the design currently underway for several significant public spaces at Denver Union Station, the Union Station Advocates has teamed up with real estate firm Urban Market Partners and the local chapters of the American Planning Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects to arrange for a public viewing of Whyte’s “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” movie, followed by an open discussion about Union Station’s two major public spaces (17th Street Gardens and Wynkoop Plaza). The discussion will be facilitated by Ellen Ittelson, senior planner with the Denver planning office, and your DenverInfill blogger, Ken Schroeppel.

The event will be held Thursday, June 17 from 5:00 to 7:30 PM at 1430 Delgany (white building with the flowery facade next to the Waterside Lofts, just down the street from the Museum of Contemporary Art). The event is FREE to the public, although a small cash donation at the door would be greatly appreciated to help cover our costs. Light refreshments will be available. YOU are invited!

Here’s a flyer:

We hope to see you Thursday for urbanism-at-the-movies night!

Wynkoop Plaza is proposed for the east side of the historic station along Wynkoop Street. It’s hard to not call that side the front of the station, since that has effectively been the case for decades. But with the new transit elements going in to the west and with all the new vertical development in the Central Platte Valley, both sides will now be the “front”. Fortunately, the historic station was designed with equally attractive east and west facades.

Currently, ugly surface parking lots occupy the key corners of 16th and Wynkoop and 18th and Wynkoop. Both of these will be replaced with “wing” buildings as they’ve been called, given their location at the end of the historic station’s two wings. The north wing building at 18th and Wynkoop will be the new home of IMA Financial and will look something like this. The design of the south wing building hasn’t been completed yet but it will be of similar scale and quality. Both buildings are critical to the success of Wynkoop Plaza for two reasons: they define the plaza edges and help visually enclose the space to make it feel more intimate, and they provide the ground-floor retail and restaurant uses that will help enliven the plaza with people and activity.

Wynkoop Plaza consists of north and south sections, with each having a different programmatic and design emphasis. Here’s an overview:

The south (left) plaza will be more open and sunny than the north (right) plaza. Given the south plaza’s proximity to the 16th Street Mall and the end of the commuter rail platforms, it will experience more pedestrian traffic, which the open design facilitates.

The south plaza will also include an area with pop-up fountains that, during the warmer months, will engage the senses and draw more people into the plaza. The fountain will be computer programmed to allow for a variety of effects, such as the jets of water popping up in different shape and timing patterns. The height of the water jets can also be adjusted depending on wind speed and other factors, and up-lighting can make for dramatic nighttime displays. Of course, during the colder months and during larger events in the plaza, the fountain can be turned off entirely to create an unobstructed hardscaped area. A row of trees closer to the historic station will provide shade to restaurant patios. Movable chairs will be used throughout the plaza along with a few permanent seat walls that will help delineate the primary pedestrian paths.

While the south plaza is the sunnier, more open and active section, the north plaza will be a bit more quiet and shady, although still a great people place.

The north plaza will feature a bosque of trees that provides plenty of shade for both permanent seat walls/planters and movable tables and chairs. The far north end of the plaza closest to the IMA Financial Building will remain open to provide a sunny space and clear sight lines to the pedestrian bridge/plaza spanning over the commuter rail tracks.

Like the 17th Street Gardens, the Wynkoop Plaza has been designed for both passive use as well as programmed events, such as stage performances, festivals, vending carts, games, etc. The diagrams below show two of the many ways different events can be configured into the space.

Regarding Wynkoop Street itself, many people have suggested that the street be rebuilt between 16th and 18th so that the Wynkoop Plaza’s paving surface and streetscape elements can extend across to the storefronts on the other side of the street, thereby making the street itself part of the public space. Everyone thinks this is a great idea, but currently there is no money in very-tight project and city budgets for this to occur at this time. However, nothing in the Wynkoop Plaza design would preclude that from occurring in the future when funding is available, so it’s just something we have to keep on the front burner and eventually we’ll find a way to get it done.

About the revival of the Welcome/Mizpah Arch: You may recall Union Station Advocates held a big gala event in the historic station to start raising money for the return of the arch. Currently, there’s no consensus among the Downtown community as to the arch’s design or location. Some people feel it should be an exact replica of the original arch (at the same scale or perhaps at a smaller scale) and some people feel it should be a contemporary arch inspired by the original. Some people favor the original location at 17th and Wynkoop, while others favor a new location on the west side where there are more potential sites available. Regardless of the ultimate design and location, it would be several years at the earliest before the arch could be constructed and installed anyway, given the funds that will need to be raised to pay for it. So for now, a healthy debate over the arch continues while a longer-term fundraising plan and decision-making process is devised.

Finally, it is the hope and goal of Union Station Advocates and many of us throughout Denver that Union Station becomes much more than a transportation hub. The station’s location between our beloved Lower Downtown historic district and the exciting contemporary developments in the Central Platte Valley, along with the infusion of masses of people every day, creates the opportunity for Union Station and its surrounding public spaces to become a nearly perfect urban nexus for Downtown. It can become the place where, when asking what not to miss when in Downtown Denver, first-time visitors are told “go to Union Station”. It can become the place where locals hang out even if they have no plans to travel by transit. Paired with its likely-to-be-very-dramatic Calatrava-designed sister station at Denver International Airport, Union Station will be the gateway to Denver for millions of people every year and may become Downtown’s most important single place.

Some patience will be required for Union Station to achieve its full potential. While the basic layout and urban design elements of the public spaces are being constructed now, the area will evolve and improve over time as the trees and plantings mature, public art is added, the private-sector developments are built out, and other enhancements (like the Mizpah Arch or extending the plaza across Wynkoop) are implemented. Union Station won’t be perfect on opening day, but the planning and design framework is in place for it to get off to a great start.

First, an overview of the proposed public spaces at DUS. The public realm within the Union Station transit district consists of a network of spaces that flows above, below, through, and around the various transit elements, the historic station, and the future private development buildings. We’ve discussed some of these already, such as the commuter rail Train Hall, Light Rail Plaza, the pedestrian concourse inside the underground bus terminal, the areas around the three pavilions, and the pedestrian bridge over the commuter rail tracks. The streets are also an important part of the public realm. Wynkoop, Wewatta, Chestnut, 16th, 17th, and 18th streets will all contribute in different ways to the character of the district. There’s also the inside of the historic station—perhaps the premier public space of them all—which we’ll discuss in a future blog post. Today, however, it’s about one of the two new signature public spaces at Union Station, 17th Street Gardens (Wynkoop Plaza is the other and next up in this series). The following graphic came from a presentation prepared back in the fall of 2008 early in the conceptual stage of the public space design, but it still does a good job of showing the basic framework for the public realm at Union Station and the different character zones within the district. As with all Union Station plan maps, west (northwest actually) is at the top, and east (towards downtown) is at the bottom:

The 17th Street Gardens is the main public space (aside from the rail platform areas) on the western side of the historic station. Labeled as the “linear gardens” on the map above, the short section west of Chestnut Street near the light rail station is now the Chestnut Pavilion Plaza and the short section east of Wewatta Street near the commuter rail station is now the Wewatta Pavilion Plaza. Both of these pavilion plazas will contain design elements from the 17th Street Gardens, but the main garden space is focused on the block in between Chestnut and Wewatta.

One of the earliest design changes recommended by SOM and Hargreaves (the transit and landscape architecture firms hired for the project) was to shift the 17th Street vehicle drive lanes to the south and eliminate the median. The original plan had a vehicle lane in each direction and a median centered within the wide 17th Street right-of-way. In fact, a few years ago this block of 17th Street was built (but never opened to traffic) and was removed only a few months ago when construction began:

The new plan consolidates the public space by shifting most of the plaza to the north (sunny) side of 17th Street. Centered within the right-of-way are the skylights that provide light to the bus terminal below. Extending horizontally across the plaza from each skylight are raised planting beds with seat walls. These create the framework for the eight “rooms” that will feature different landscape and urban design elements. A 25-foot wide fire lane provides the main pedestrian walk zone, ending with a 10-foot wide zone for restaurant patio seating. Between the skylights and the street is an 8-foot sidewalk, and the south side of the street still enjoys a wide sidewalk and a cafe seating zone:

A key aspect of a successful public space is a design that people feel comfortable hanging out in, yet also allows for a variety of programmed events to occur, such as stage performances, street fairs, games, vending carts, etc. The 17th Street Gardens layout provides that flexibility between programmed and passive use. For larger events, 17th Street can be closed down, providing even more space. Here are two images that show the variety of programmed uses that could be incorporated in different combinations throughout the seasons:

The landscape plan for the gardens is intended to provide a variety of interesting plant colors and textures for all four Colorado seasons:

Finally, here are some street-level renderings of the finished 17th Street Gardens:

Of course, until both buildings along 17th Street facing the gardens are completed, the 17th Street Gardens won’t “feel” finished, as it is the sense of enclosure that buildings provide that is such a critical component to a successful urban space. Let’s hope for a speedy economic recovery so the private sector developments within and adjacent to the Union Station transit district can be built to complement this significant public infrastructure investment.

The commuter rail station area includes several components. First, the commuter rail platforms will be surrounded and partially enclosed by a large canopy shelter. This is the area often referred to as the Train Hall or the Train Shed, and should not be confused with the Great Hall inside the historic structure. Then there’s the Wewatta and Union Station Pavilions, and the pedestrian plaza/bridge over the tracks north of the platforms. Here are two images that give you the layout in this area. On the left is an illustrative image that shows the historic Union Station structure, the north and south “wing” buildings to either side, the white canopy Train Hall over the platforms with the oval opening in the center, the Wewatta and Union Station Pavilions directly on the 17th Street axis, future private-sector development buildings south and west of the Train Hall, and the parking garage structure straddling the tracks off to the north. The image on the right identifies which train lines will utilize the eight platforms within the commuter rail station.

The first element one would encounter after crossing Wewatta Street from the west is the Wewatta Pavilion. Like the Chestnut Pavilion, the Wewatta Pavilion will include escalators, elevators, and stairs to provide vertical access to the underground bus terminal. The area surrounding the pavilion also functions as a public space, with room for outdoor cafe patios for the adjacent buildings, ticketing machines, landscaping, seating, and other plaza features. Along Wewatta in this area will be the primary drop-off point for vehicles and queuing areas for taxis and other private shuttles. Below are two images that show the Wewatta Pavilion in plan view (left) and street-level view from across Wewatta Street (right):

The train platforms will be surrounded by a dramatic swoopy canopy, 500 feet long and 180 feet wide, that will provide some cover from the elements while still keeping the whole Train Hall area generally open air. Within the Train Hall, the center platforms under the “hole” in the bigger canopy will have lower canopies to provide shelter, information signs, and the like. The height of the big canopy goes up to over 40 feet on the ends but dips down to around 21 feet in the center to not block the view of the big windows and neon lights of the west facade of the historic station.  The four images below show the Train Hall area from different angles:

Between the Train Hall and the historic station is the Union Station Pavilion. Like its counterparts, it offers multiple options to access the underground bus terminal below. A new door in the center of the historic structure will allow one to walk from inside the Great Hall directly out to the Train Hall and go either to the commuter rail platforms or down via the Union Station Pavilion to the bus terminal. Here are two images that show the Union Station Pavilion area:

The three main pavilions are not the only ways to get underground to the bus terminal. The center two platforms within the Train Hall—those sandwiched in between the other two sets of tracks—will have their own stairways and elevators down to the bus terminal.

The final element is the pedestrian plaza/bridge over the commuter rail tracks just north of the Train Hall. The original DUS plan called for the private-sector development building north of the Wewatta Pavilion (Block B) to be “L” shaped like its counterpart to the south. At that time, a wide plaza spanning the tracks was planned (called Kinetic Plaza) that would be incorporated into the facade of the building. The Union Station master developer team is currently evaluating the feasibility of the portion of that building spanning over the tracks. In the event the building over the tracks is not built, the plaza will be narrowed to a pedestrian bridge. Either way, the plaza/bridge will provide vertical access to the east down to Wynkoop Plaza, to the north down to the corner of Wewatta and 18th, and to the south down to the two center commuter rail platforms. Additionally, the Denver Union Station Project Authority is currently evaluating the feasibility of the parking garage that spans over the tracks farther north. Consequently, the plan for the area around the pedestrian plaza/bridge is still somewhat in flux. The issue in both cases is that the building/parking garage over the tracks must be built within the next couple of years before the new commuter rail station becomes operational; otherwise, to build either structure over active tracks in the future would be extremely complex and most likely prohibitively expensive. Anyway, here are two images that show this pedestrian plaza/bridge area:

That pretty much covers the commuter rail station area. Next, we’ll take a look at the plans for the public spaces within the Union Station transit district, followed by a wrap-up of the private-sector developments that will eventually complete the entire project and make the Union Station district one of Downtown Denver’s best urban places.

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.

Within the bus terminal’s overall footprint is a pedestrian concourse 44 feet wide and about 780 feet long. The concourse connects the Chestnut Pavilion (discussed in the previous post on the light rail station) with the Union Station Pavilion, a similar portal immediately west of the historic station structure. In between, the Wewatta Pavilion provides yet another vertical access point to the bus terminal. Surrounding the pedestrian concourse is the bus drive loop and a bus parking lane along the north side of the terminal.

The upper-left image below shows how buses will access the terminal. Buses coming in from the I-25 HOV lane will descend a ramp just south of 18th Street. Buses from surface streets in Downtown, including the Downtown Circulator, will cross Wynkoop, pass in between the north wing building (IMA Financial) and the historic Ice House, turn left, and descend the same ramp. Once inside the terminal, buses will circulate in a clockwise rotation. Downtown Circulator stops are planned for under the commuter rail platforms and for under the Chestnut Pavilion. An additional bus ramp north of the light rail station will provide secondary access for the underground facility.

The upper-right image includes, at the top, a longitudinal section of the bus terminal, which shows the location of the three pavilions that provide escalator, elevator, and stairway access, as well as additional access points along the length of the terminal. At the bottom is a plan view of the facility, which shows the bus gates, bus parking area along the north side, and the pedestrian concourse.

The lower-left image compares the new DUS bus terminal with the existing Market Street Station, which is slightly wider but only one-third as long as the new facility at Union Station.

The lower-right image shows a cross section at approximately half-way between Chestnut and Wewatta. In the foreground are the 17th Street Gardens above the bus facility. Beyond is the Wewatta Pavilion, the commuter rail station, and the west facade of the historic Union Station.

Initially, moving sidewalks (a/k/a “travelators”) were proposed for the pedestrian concourse. However, after further analysis, the project team concluded it would be advantageous to remove them from the terminal’s design. Given the numerous vertical access nodes and concourse cross-over points that necessitate interrupting a travelator path, there was ultimately room for only two travelators (74 and 143 feet in length), which totaled only about one-quarter of the length of the concourse. Additionally, the width of the travelator took up valuable space and reduced the room available for seating and general passenger circulation. The top two images below show “with and without travelator” diagrams and their impact on pedestrian circulation and amenities within the concourse. The bottom two images show conceptual views from inside the concourse.

Many people have asked about Greyhound, and if they are moving to the new DUS bus terminal. Greyhound did considered moving to DUS at one point, but they ultimately declined to participate in the project. Meanwhile, it is my understanding that Greyhound is looking elsewhere within the greater Downtown area for a suitable new location.

One other notable attribute about the underground bus terminal is the skylights. Unlike Market Street Station which is a rather drab space, the new Union Station bus facility will enjoy plenty of natural light coming from seven skylights located between Chestnut and Wewatta. The diagrams below show the location and design of the skylights:

The underground bus terminal will open late 2013. Next up: the commuter rail station.