While Rick is doing a fantastic job of documenting the construction activities at the Denver Union Station site, I thought I would offer an overview of the DUS plan itself for those of you not yet up to speed on the final layout for the new transit hub at Union Station. As you may know, the Union Station plan has evolved over the course of five years from the adoption of the original Denver Union Station Master Plan in 2004, through the selection of the master developer in 2006, to the plan we have today. A lot of iterations and different alternatives have been evaluated over those five years, so it’s understandable if people still have questions about what the project is going to look like once it is finished in 2013 or so.
Before we begin, a quick note on why the DUS plan had to evolve in the first place. The original DUS Master Plan called for light rail, commuter rail, and the bus terminal all to be underground on the 19-acre DUS property, which was fine in concept, but it came with a price tag of $1 billion. Only about $200 million was set aside for Union Station in the FasTracks budget so… you can do the math. As it is, the current design will cost almost $500 million and yet it took several years just to come up with the missing $300 million (ultimately from federal loans). Meanwhile, the Federal Railroad Administration ruled that the design for putting the commuter rail station underground didn’t meet federal safety requirements, so the whole plan had to be revised anyway. In the end, by utilizing the wide 17th Street right-of-way and land along the consolidated freight tracks in addition to the Union Station property itself, the result was a financeable and buildable plan that integrates all of the transit, public space, and vertical development elements in a cohesive manner that will make the Union Station transit district a vibrant and dynamic hub to Downtown and the region.
The Denver Union Station plan consists of three major transit components: the light rail station, the underground RTD bus terminal, and the commuter rail station, along with private-sector development and several public spaces. The light rail station will be at-grade and located at the foot of 17th Street next to the CML (consolidated main line) freight tracks. The underground bus terminal will occupy the width of the 17th Street right-of-way and span the distance from the light rail station to the historic station. The commuter rail station will be at-grade and located between the historic station and Wewatta Street. Adjacent to and in between these three transit components are the public spaces and private-sector development sites. Here are several images that show the overall site configuration:
I’ll break this review of the DUS plan into several parts. This post will focus on the light rail station area. Future posts will cover the other two major transit elements, the public spaces, and the real estate development program. All of the images I’ll be presenting in all these Union Station posts will be taken from the various presentations available at the official project website, www.DenverUnionStation.org. I highly recommend you view the materials and information available on the DUS website to gain a full understanding of the project’s design, schedule, and other aspects.
Now, on to the plan! To get your bearings, “west” will be towards the mountains and “east” towards Downtown; “north” towards 18th Street and “south” towards 16th.
The light rail station will cap the end of 17th Street, the spine of the entire transit district. It will have two platforms serving three tracks for the Southeast, Southwest, and West light rail lines. Access to the underground bus terminal will be provided by the Chestnut Pavilion, located immediately east of the light rail station, where elevators, escalators, and stairs will provide passengers with vertical circulation between the two levels. Also adjacent to the light rail station will be the terminus of the 16th Street Mall. The mall shuttles will drop passengers off next to the Chestnut Pavilion and pick passengers up under a large canopy shelter next to the light rail platform before completing their turn-around loop and heading back towards Downtown. The light rail station plaza will also connect to the plaza at the base of the Millennium Bridge to the south, and to the plaza at the base of the 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge to the north. Below are three images that show the light rail station, mall shuttle loop, and Chestnut Pavilion area (upper left: plan view with “west” at the top; upper right: axonometric view looking south; lower left: axonometric view looking east). The fourth image shows a preliminary cross-section view (Chestnut Place side) of how the Chestnut Pavilion will provide vertical access to the bus facility below.
Passengers exiting a light rail train will have several options to get to the commuter rail station and the historic station. They will be able to: 1.) walk the two blocks at street level along 17th Street through landscaped gardens and plazas and past the ground-floor retail and restaurant spaces that will eventually line the corridor; 2.) hop on the 16th Street Mall shuttle and get off at the very next stop at Union Station; 3.) walk underground via the pedestrian concourse inside the bus terminal; 4.) board the Downtown Circulator at its stop inside the bus terminal beneath the Chestnut Pavilion and get off at the next stop, located beneath the commuter rail platforms.
The plaza surrounding the light rail station will feature a bicycle parking area, landscaped planters, a distinctive paving pattern, and what will be perhaps the most visually interesting element, the exhaust/intake shafts for the underground bus terminal. Rising over 20 feet in height, the three shafts will be designed in a sculptural/artistic manner to complement the surrounding plaza and landscape design. Here are a few renderings of the light rail plaza area:
The light rail station will be the first major element of the Union Station project to be completed, with a projected opening later this year. Once the new light rail station is open, the existing light rail station will be removed to allow for continued excavation for the bus terminal and the commuter rail platforms.
Up next: the underground bus facility.
the patterned pavers at the light rail station seem un-nessesary and exsessive in terms of detail. so do the tree planters and gardens along 17th street.
are you, by chance, a fan of Ron Paul?
You have to pave the street either way and I don’t see why brown+gray pavers are more expensive than all brown or all gray ones.
Excellent presentation, Ken. I have pored over the various Union Station-related websites previously, but your explanation makes it easier to understand all of the elements.
I see in one of the renderings there is a parking garage that sits atop the tracks coming into the station. Wasn’t that eliminated from the project? Or was it supposed to be a building but then was changed to the garage?
Dan, I believe the fate of the parking garage over the commuter rail tracks is still being evaluated, but, for the time being, many of the site plans continue to show the parking garage in its proposed location. Also under evaluation is the part of the “B Block” building that spans across the commuter rail tracks. That too may not be feasible at this time. We should know soon…
Thanks Ken. I was under the impression that nothing would be built over the tracks. Glad to hear there is still hope!
Maybe the distance between LRT and HRT won’t be so bad after all! Pleasantly surprised and getting a cozy, human scale vibe to this area around LRT (though how tall are the buildings that hem in this area?). I especially like how the funnel effect is accentuated paths, tree planters, and pavers. The ship smoke stacks look like they’ll add some mystique to the area as well.
Troy, my understanding is that the zoning allows a maximum building height of 140 feet fronting 17th Street between the CML and Wewatta, with a setback after 80 feet.
Thank you for this nice summary!
Great article, very informative! I am most interested in passenger convenience, especially with a future public transportation network in mind that gets you to Denver suburbs and beyond. So how does a person traveling with heavy bags transfer most conveniently between light rail and commuter rail/Amtrak? Seems like option 4 would be the best? Do they envision luggage carts? Also, is there some kind of major car drop-off/pickup area planned like at DIA?
I would think 2 or 4 would be best if you have a lot of bags. I don’t know about luggage carts but that’s not a bad idea. A car drop-off area is planned for near 17th & Wewatta, next to the commuter rail platforms.
I think it’s really important that people try to put the distance between the LR and CR platforms in perspective…for example, the distance is roughly equal to the distance you would walk from your car to the DIA terminal if you got a rock-star, front-row parking spot in the economy lot at DIA. Or, it’s about the same as the distance from the train in Concourse A at DIA to the very last gate. Certainly do-able, even with all your bags, wouldn’t you say?
I’ve heard that statement again and again. I think the human scale thing may help significantly, but most people don’t fly out of DEN every day for their commute. There is a significant difference when you have to make that train 5 days a week. Just my 2 cents, though.
plus, over 31,000 people _work_ at DIA; others will make LR to CR connections for other destinations
So when the LRT station opens “later this year,” how will people get from the new station through/around/over the construction area? Is 16th Street the only option?
Hi Neil. I believe 16th will be the only option, but the Mall Shuttle stop behind DUS will also close and they’ll reroute the shuttles to the new LRT station.
KB, if that’s the case, it may not be too bad, indeed. The DIA train is going to depart from the light rail stop or the commuter rail stop?
The DIA train is a commuter train, I believe.
KB: Thanks for the important perspective. The distance between the LR and CR is really nothing when compared to other common walks that people make all the time, inluding in underground subway stations between lines.
Awesome overview. Thanks.
Ken, simply fabulous. The planters, decorative accents and pavement patters are absolutely necessary and I welcome them!
thanks for helping us grapple with how transit will work at DUS; as we all know contemporary Denver is a city of compromises; i think the distance between LR & CR is important in terms of time, not space; please someone do a careful estimate of the amount of time (minimum and maximum) the different options will take (i can’t estimate from “two blocks” nor from scale-less drawing, nor do i know the bus or shuttle schedules); with some time figures we will have something to talk about — how much time it adds to the trip to/from the airport is the key
Absolutely. And compute that based on off-peak time of travel. Something like travel time for Jeffco Gold Line Terminal to DIA or Mineral Station to DIA would be very telling.
ah, i see a figure of 980′ on one of the bus article’s graphics; this is about 3 minutes at a fast walk, 6 at a relaxed pace or encumbered; and it seems there could be some obstacles en route, plus an unknown for the mechanics of getting to the desired CR track (down and up in some cases, but not all?)
Ken, great post!
Will you be providing a summary of what’s happening (if anything) to the CML parallel to the light rail line? I’m currently renting adjacent to the tracks and would love to buy in the neighborhood, but the bone-wretching crashes and shrill screeching noises from the trains switching in the middle of the night makes me highly skeptical. Are they moving the lines and yards out to the plains, or what’s the story?
There’s been talk about the freight trains moving but, frankly, somebody’s going to have to pony up a huge amount of money to do that, and I doubt the railroads are going to be footing the bill. It may happen, but consider it a project measured in decades, not years. Nevertheless, I assume you get used to it after a while.
Bloody brilliant. I really do like SOM’s work. Dare I say this plan is almost more exciting than Transbay? My only critique is the retail planned for a perpendicular street. I’m unsure that regional retailers are going to want to be away from the axis utilized by 100% of the pedestrian traffic. Maybe I’m just missing what lies beyond the project boundaries along Wewatta that will draw them out?