AURORA | The 10.5-mile Aurora light rail line continues to take shape ahead of its scheduled opening in a year.
Dubbed the “R” line, the new Interstate 225 light rail system will connect the East Commuter Rail Line through Aurora to metro Denver’s Southeast Corridor Light Rail.
The R line connects into the Aurora City Center, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Children’s Hospital and the future VA Medical Center. It also will take passengers to the new Peoria Station at Interstate 70 where they can transfer to the East Rail Line to go to the airport or Union Station in downtown Denver.
The R line includes 1,800 parking spaces and eight new stations that will extend north from the existing Nine Mile Station: Iliff, Florida, Aurora Metro Center, Second & Abilene, 13th Avenue, Colfax, Fitzsimons and Peoria.
The new line includes seven light rail bridges along with two pedestrian bridges. The most prominent bridges in Aurora will carry trains over East Iliff Avenue, East Mississippi Avenue and East Sixth Avenue. The Peoria-Sand Creek Flyover Bridge is slated to be 1,093 feet long — the longest bridge on the project and the last to be built for the project, according to RTD.
The Aurora-Denver commute should take 40 minutes on the R line, with trains running every 10 minutes at peak times and every 15 minutes in off-peak hours.
Iliff Station
The Iliff Station platform sits on the east side of I-225 and south of Iliff Avenue. A bridge will carry trains over East Iliff Avenue as the train heads north on the east side of the interstate.
The station will have its own two-story, 600-space parking garage that can be expanded to four stories in the future. The $10.5-million garage should be completed before the rail line opens in 2016, according to RTD officials. Design elements will include a large pedestrian plaza with a major art installation, and a new roundabout at Anaheim where it connects with East Harvard Avenue.
The R line includes 1,800 parking spaces and eight new stations that will extend north from the existing Nine Mile Station: Iliff, Florida, Aurora Metro Center, Second & Abilene, 13th Avenue, Colfax, Fitzsimons and Peoria.
Florida station
This station will sit between I-225 and Abilene Street, and a pedestrian bridge will connect to the west side of I-225 near the Medical Center of Aurora.
The bridge will span 192-feet and will be installed in the next few months, according to RTD officials.
This station is a walk-up with no parking spaces, and will serve as the new end-of-line station for the existing H line that provides direct service to downtown Denver.
Aurora Metro Center Station
Residents will see big changes at what RTD project leaders are calling the “horseshoe,” a U-shaped path the light rail will take as it leaves the edge of I-225 and runs at street level. The train will make a right turn at Exposition Avenue, a left at Sable Boulevard, and a final left at Ellsworth Avenue before it again heads back north on the east side of the interstate.
The Aurora Metro Center Station will be located on the east side of Sable Boulevard, directly north of Centrepoint Drive, and next to the existing RTD bus transfer facility.
Along Sable Boulevard, crews are installing 108-inch-diameter storm water pipes for the flood-prone Sable Boulevard and Alameda Avenue. John Fernandez, who oversees FasTracks for the city’s Planning and Development department, said the city is using the drain improvement work as an opportunity to build an underpass bike-pedestrian path to get to the municipal center without having to cross busy Alameda Avenue from Metro Center station.
He said the city has plans to turn this part of Aurora into “a large-scale, walkable urban village.”
Second & Abilene Station
The Second & Abilene Station will be located on the east side of Abilene Street, directly north of the Second Avenue intersection. City officials have envisioned the area as a neighborhood-serving station with its close proximity to the High Line Canal Trail.
Fernandez said a 139-room, four-story Marriott Courtyard hotel will be going up just north of the station.
The station will have 250 parking spaces.
13th Avenue Station
Tucked into an enclave between I-225 and existing residential areas on the east side of the interstate at East 13th Avenue, this station is slated for an undeveloped piece of land owned by RTD, south of RTD’s East Metro Bus Facility.
RTD will be putting in a traffic light at 13th and Sable as commuters enter from the east, and widening the sidewalk for pedestrians.
Fernandez said the city will also build a pedestrian bridge to traverse Tollgate Creek immediately west of the 13th Avenue underpass.
This station will have 250 parking spaces.
Colfax Station
The Colfax Station will be an elevated station spanning Colfax Avenue east of Fitzsimons Parkway. The station will also serve as a pedestrian bridge for those crossing Colfax.
This station will be the most distinctive among the eight, according to RTD and city planners. The city of Aurora contributed $2 million to incorporate betterments into the station that include a grand arch at the bridge’s center and lights to illuminate the station at night.
The city has also commissioned a $300,000 permanent art installation with eight to 12 suspended structures that project images and words underneath the bridge that will tell the stories of the city’s immigrant and refugee residents.
The 249-room Hyatt Hotel and Conference Center, located within half a mile of the station, will be opening in 2016 as well. The nearby Forum, a four-story apartment building with structured parking and 27,000 square feet of retail set to open at Colfax and Potomac Street, will also be under construction in a month, Fernandez, said.
The R line connects into the Aurora City Center, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Children’s Hospital and the future VA Medical Center. It also will take passengers to the new Peoria Station at Interstate 70 where they can transfer to the East Rail Line to go to the airport or Union Station in downtown Denver.
Fitzsimons Station
Running parallel to Tollgate Creek on Fitzsimons Parkway, this station will be on the north side of Fitzsimons and across from the north side of Fitzsimons Golf Course.
The Sand Creek Regional Greenway and residential neighborhoods are on the north side of the station, and the Fitzsimons Innovation District and the medical campus are on the south side.
There will be no commuter parking at the station, but shuttles will be available into the Anschutz medical campus, according to RTD.
Peoria Station
This station platform will be right next to the East Rail line platform, physically located where Smith Road used to be. Here, commuters will be able take the East Rail line that heads into Denver International Airport. The city has zoned the station for transit-oriented development, and is working to turn the area into a mixed-use employment center to serve nearby Stapleton and Morris Heights neighborhoods. Loretta Daniel, a principal planner with the city’s FasTracks team, said 200 new residential units are in the design phase a half mile from this station.
This station will have 550 parking spaces shared with the East Rail line.
This is totally wicked!!!! 😀
Never thought we’d see the end of this project. Can’t wait to see the system in place!
2016 is a huge year for light rail. I think it’s awesome. RTD…open a line to Boulder. That is another congested route that could use a line.