AURORA | The light rail stop serving most of the Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado Hospital and coming VA Hospital will likely move one-half mile north to the other side of the campus, RTD’s general manager said Tuesday night at a regular meeting.
Phil Washington, general manager for the Regional Transportation District, which operates the light rail train under construction in Aurora, told the elected board of directors of that group that despite years of planning for the Montview Station, that location wouldn’t work.
The plan to move the station still requires board approval in June. It wasn’t immediately clear if the station’s relocation would delay construction on the rail section. It was also unclear if the move would incur any additional expenses.
Washington told the board that it would be too costly to address the concerns spelled out in a letter sent May 28 by University of Colorado President Bruce Benson enumerating the concerns for the station’s location.
“We do not have the budget to mitigate the concerns of CU,” Washington told the board.
In earlier negotiations, officials from CU expressed concerns about electromagnetic radiation effecting equipment and noise and vibrations from the train disturbing the hospital.
RTD’s plans to reroute the light rail line away from the campus comes after members of the Veteran Affairs Commission have complained that the Colfax light rail station would be too far away from the future VA Hospital. Commissioners say veterans who are disabled and in wheelchairs wouldn’t be able to make the walk from the Colfax light rail station to the entrance of the VA hospital.
Aurora Sentinel reporter Adam Goldstein contributed to this report.