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While high-speed rail remains a far-off notion for the United States, local organizations are having a difficult time figuring out exactly where metro-area residents stand on the expansion of light rail. Facing a shortage of more than $2 billion to complete six new train lines and make improvements, the Regional Transportation District will determine tomorrow whether to ask voters for another sales tax increase this November (Denver Post). A train station planned for a Denver International Airport terminal is part of the new East Corridor line, but RTD officials are worried it’s at risk of missing its construction deadline—despite the airport’s manager saying otherwise (Post).
As for the lines already in operation, Denver and Lakewood residents along the West Corridor are hoping the Public Utilities Commission will allow RTD to minimize the noise from its warning systems (bells and horns on the gates) with a “quieter” approach (Post). Meanwhile, D4 Urban is figuring out how to develop the land it has purchased between the stations at Alameda and Broadway/I-25 (Post). So far, the multi-use plans include a combination of education, office, and retail space, along with hotel rooms and residences, over an area “roughly the size of Lower Downtown or Cherry Creek North.”