Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2 - (Page 9)

The Denver Union Station redevelopment project combines the historic transportation hub with 1.35 million square feet of mixed-use, transit-oriented development. long alternatives analysis, which we’ll eventually whittle down to two to four of the most promising. Then, if Metro and the communities approve the corridors, we’ll proceed with full environmental clearance. The record of decision and final design will follow. We’re looking at being in service as early as 2016.” DMJM Harris, in joint venture, is planning the project, which will bring a transit line outside the city limits of Los Angeles into suburbia. “It is challenging because the community is in flux,” adds Ogden. “Just as the Asian-American population went from San Francisco’s Chinatown and dispersed regionally, in Los Angeles the same phenomenon is happening with the Hispanic/Latino population, which is shifting to the suburbs.” Hence the “Extending the Art of Community” project theme. Says Ogden: “People who live in areas to be served by the extension have parents and grandparents living back in East Los committed to bringing BRT to the Big Apple. For the 11.5-mile-long, $140-million project, DMJM Harris is providing planning, handling environmental assessment and public involvement aspects. “Back in 2001, the project was tabled because of strong public and government opposition, but we met with the opponents and listened to their concerns,” says John Kelly, P .E., project manager. “Now we’ve turned the opposition into our biggest proponents.” Compromise was key. “Half of the roadway has residential areas along it,” says Kelly. “We were able to commit that we wouldn’t take additional right-of-way. For 5 miles, a freight rail line also runs in the median, so between the cars and trains, it’s noisy. We’ll add continuous noise walls along the section where residential housing is adjacent to the Loop.” Planning will be completed in spring 2009, with construction starting that summer. Denver’s landmark transit project The result of a landmark public private partnership, the Denver Union Station redevelopment project combines the region’s historic transportation hub with 1.35 million square feet of mixed-use, transit-oriented development. DMJM Harris is the lead transit planner and engineer, and is in line to design the $500-million transit component consisting of light rail, commuter rail, Amtrak and regional bus facilities. “In January 2008, we started the full-scale preliminary design and Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] process,” says Al Raine, DMJM Harris’s liaison to the private developers. Legacy—VOLUME 3: NUMBER 2, 2008 09 Angeles. This extension will give them access to their former neighborhoods, as well as a wide range of regional connections.” Opponents become proponents It will be the first implementation in Texas of dynamic, variably-priced, managed highway lanes. Every three to four minutes, a computer will analyze conditions and change the price being levied on private passenger vehicles; buses and designated van pools will travel free. But this unique project was almost shelved. The State Highway Loop 1/MOPAC project adds two managed lanes, one northbound and one southbound, to a highway that runs parallel to I-35, a major commuter route through Austin. Linking California communities The resurgence of rail in Los Angeles continues unabated. While construction is underway on the Gold Line Eastside expansion to Atlantic Avenue near the Los Angeles city limit, planning has begun on a phase 2 extension. “It’s a very large study area—an 80-squaremile region that is projected to exceed 800,000 in population by 2030,” says Brent Ogden, P .E., project manager, commenting on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) project. “We are looking at dozens of possible corridors in the one-year-

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2

Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2 Contents In the Zone Gaining Altitude Six to Go: Planning Projects Promise Increased Mobility Women's Development Forum On the Move in the Southeast Protecting the World's Future Making the Grade Coming to America A Dedication to Development Looking to the Skies Spotlight on People and Projects An Aviation Innovation

Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.