RTD NAMES NEW PROJECT MANAGER

Jim Starling
was appointed RTD’s Project Manager for the West Corridor on July 9, 2009. He was previously the North Metro Project Manager for RTD FasTracks and has nearly 20 years of prior transit experience. He graduated from Colorado State University with a BS in Civil Engineering and has his professional engineering license. Jim has worked for the RTD for over 12 years serving as the light rail Engineering Manager on the T-REX/Southeast Corridor and the Central Platte Valley Spur. He also helped manage RTD’s Southwest Corridor Light Rail Project. Please join us in welcoming Jim to the West Corridor team. His experience will guide us through the construction of the West Corridor.
 

CORRECTION FROM THE JULY NEWSLETTER

In the July issue of the West Corridor Newsletter, it was mistakenly reported that Lawrence Construction would be building the light rail bridges over the Consolidated Main Line and the Platte River. Actually, Edward Kraemer and Sons will be the contractor building the Consolidated Main Line and Platte River bridges. Lawrence Construction will be building the bridges at Lakewood Gulch, Decatur Street, Federal Boulevard, Sheridan Boulevard, Colfax Avenue, and the tunnel under I-70. Along with the two above mentioned bridges, Edward Kraemer and Sons will also build the Indiana Bridge, the 6th Avenue Bridge and the Wadsworth Bridge. We apologize for the erroneous information.

INDIANA BRIDGE

The Indiana light rail bridge will extend 1,531 feet and cross both 6th Avenue and Indiana Street. At its highest point, the bridge will be 65 feet in the air; making it the highest, longest and most complex bridge on the West Corridor.

It will span across two major flows of traffic between the southeast and northwest sides of the intersection of 6th Avenue and Indiana Street. The bridge itself requires several foundation/piers to cover its unique course and span and to support the weight of the light rail system. This bridge has a combination of concrete girders for the approach section of the bridge and curved steel girders on the section that crosses both 6th and Indiana.

Because of heavy traffic on 6th Avenue and Indiana Street, early stages of the Indiana Bridge will be built along both sides of 6th Avenue, while later stages will require street closures at night and on some weekends. As always, these closures will be posted on the Road Closure page of the West Corridor Web site and Variable Message Signs will be placed on 6th Avenue and Indiana Street warning motorists of the closures.

For more information about West Corridor bridges, please visit our Web site at www.rtd-fastracks.com or for specific information please email westcorridor@rtd-fastracks.com.
 

RIGHT-OF-WAY

Property Acquisition along 13th Avenue and the rest of the corridor continues for the hundreds of partial acquisitions required to construct the West Corridor. As you can imagine, fitting two tracks of light rail and bringing 13th Avenue to a 20’ width, as well as adding a 10’ bike path in many locations, makes it very tight along 13th Avenue. Many of the acquisitions are for street widening and drainage improvements as well as the installation of the new bike path.

At each of the at-grade crossings (places where automobiles can cross the tracks) extra room is needed to install the safety gates. This requirement pushes 13th Avenue north and south in those locations. Properties are affected by grading changes at these automobile crossings as well. The tracks need to stay at a consistent height, and can’t be adjusted to go up and down to meet each at-grade crossing. So the street needs to be brought up to the height of the tracks to enable a smooth crossing. When the street is raised, it creates more of a drop or rise onto adjacent properties, so the area needs to be re-graded.

At Allison, Brentwood and Holland Streets turnaround areas are being built north of the trackway so emergency vehicles and other trucks have room to turn around. These turnaround areas also require acquisitions of private property.

Another major reason for acquisition is to maintain or improve drainage adjacent to private properties. RTD will be building a separate drainage system for the light rail trackway, but we also need to replace or restore existing drainage wherever we are constructing. In all cases, RTD will restore drainage to the existing level, in many cases improvements will be made. There are other reasons a property may be needed for the project, but the descriptions above cover the majority of reasons for acquisitions.

If you have questions regarding right-of-way acquisition, please go to the Web site or call Brenda Tierney at 303-299-2401
 

CONSTRUCTION TERMINOLOGY GLOSSARY

Construction terminology can be confusing to most laymen. The West Corridor PI team has put together a list of common terminology that will be used during construction of the project. As we move forward, new terms will be added to help you understand our construction operations. To view this glossary, click here.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

To better inform our communities and partners about construction activities, we’ve divided the corridor into three segments or areas. Area 1 spans between the Jefferson County Government Center and includes the Denver Federal Center. Area 2 includes the section between the Denver Federal Center and Sheridan Boulevard. Area 3 includes the area east of Sheridan to the Auraria Campus. Schedules will be loaded on the West Corridor Web Site in this fashion and in the future, this column will report on areas, rather than single activities.

Area 1
 
Current Activities
The area west of Simms/Union is currently the most active. Crews are working on a temporary parking lot in the Jefferson County Government Center to facilitate employee parking during peak construction. They are also constructing a drainage culvert (Lena Gulch) at the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and Ulysses and continue to build retaining walls in that same area. Moving east, construction of the light rail bridge over Colfax Avenue is apparent. Crews have almost completed drilling the bridge caissons and are planning to set the girders by early September. This activity will require a complete night time closure of Colfax Avenue and traffic control measures and warning signs will be placed to move traffic around the construction area. Bridge construction at Indiana Street continues with crews working on piers and abutments. The work zone for the Indiana Bridge is located adjacent to 6th Avenue on both the northwest and southeast sides of Indiana. From Indiana east to Simms/Union crews are working on utility upgrades and relocations, storm drain installations and retaining wall construction. Relocation of the agricultural ditch under Union Blvd. is near completion and crews should be leaving that area within the next few weeks.

Upcoming Activities
Construction of the tunnel under I-70 should begin by the end of August or early September. While this is a tunnel, the construction method is called “top down”. This means crews will build the top of the tunnel directly under the asphalt of I-70 to hold the freeway up and then move down to actually dig the tunnel underneath. When construction begins, crews will mobilize into the median of I-70 between the 6th Avenue and Colfax Avenue exits. All work on the tunnel will be done during nighttime hours to minimize traffic impacts. One lane in each direction will be closed to through traffic from 7:00 pm until 5:00 am Sunday through Thursday. Once crews have built the trench boxes and set the caissons, I-70 will close in this location for two complete weekends to allow crews to place the lid of the tunnel. Current scheduling, while subject to change, indicates the eastbound lanes will close the weekend of September 26th and 27th and the westbound lanes will close the weekend of October 10th and 11th. As always variable message signs along I-70 will notify traveling motorists of the upcoming closures. You can also visit the Road Closures page of the West Corridor Web Site for up-to-date information.

Area 2

Current Activities
Utility relocations continue just north of Collins Avenue and along the 13th Avenue corridor in Lakewood. Crews recently began excavation operations between Collins and 8th Avenue, just east of Simms. Dirt removed from this location will be used to construct the light rail bridge at 6th Avenue. The major activity in Area 2 is the construction of the 6th Avenue light rail bridge . Crews are visible on the south side of 6th Avenue in the Denver Federal Center and will be moving over to the north side of 6th Avenue at approximately Quail Street within the next few weeks. Work on this bridge will take place outside of vehicular traffic lanes until the completed bridge is rolled into place across 6th Avenue, just east of Simms/Union. Barriers are in place on the shoulders and off ramps, so please be cautious when driving near the construction zone. Construction in the residential area near Kipling Street has slowed down in recent weeks. The retaining walls for the bridge approaches have been completed and construction crews moved out of the area in July.

Upcoming Activities
Crews will be moving into the area of Wadsworth and 13th Avenue in the coming weeks. Activities there will include demolition of buildings, clearing and fencing the area for a construction yard and building the Wadsworth light rail bridge. Construction activities will require the closure of both lanes of the north side of 13th Avenue, from Vance Street to Wadsworth and will also close 13th Avenue from Yukon to Wadsworth. Once equipment is in place, crews will begin drilling caissons for the bridge. Traffic on Wadsworth should not be impacted until crews place the girders on the bridge in late 2009 or early 2010. This activity will require a complete overnight closure of Wadsworth Blvd. Construction in this area will continue for approximately the next 18 months. Installation of a drainage culvert on the north side of Collins, east of Simms will begin in early September. There are no expected traffic impacts for this installation.

Area 3

Current and Ongoing Activities
Utility relocations are evident as Xcel Energy continues to work on electric and gas relocations from Sheridan Boulevard east to the Auraria West Station. Retaining walls between Sheridan Blvd. and Tennyson Street are complete and wall crews continue to work their way east. One side of the pedestrian bridge at Tennyson Street has been placed and the second side, along with the pedestrian bridge at Hazel Court, will be placed later this month. Construction of the drainage culvert at Knox Court should be completed soon, making way for wall crews to move into the area. Knox Court at 12th Avenue will remain closed for the next few months to accommodate this construction. In the Dry Gulch area wall construction is moving quickly. Crews continue to work on phase one of the Federal Boulevard Bridge outside of traffic lanes. Once this phase is completed, traffic on Federal will be realigned to allow utility relocations and continued bridge work. In all, this bridge will take two years to complete. This is one of three street bridges Denver Transit Construction is building; Sheridan Boulevard and Decatur Street are the other two. Girders will be placed on the light rail bridge at Lakewood Gulch by the end of August. Once set, crews will pour the deck and finalize construction at that location. Storm and sanitary sewer relocations and earth work between Sheridan and Decatur will continue in this area for the next several months.
 

HOW CAN I GET (OR STAY) INVOLVED?

One of the best ways to get the latest information on the West Corridor is to ensure we have your e-mail address. Our periodic e-mails will provide you with information essential to being an active participant. As full construction gets underway, it will be important to keep all members of the community informed on construction activities. Tell your friends and neighbors to sign up on our e-mail list to receive up-to-date information, and if your e-mail changes, please notify us.

Don’t forget to visit our Web site, where you’ll find all the latest information about the West Corridor.