Denver’s central business district is bracing for another round of light rail disruptions as the Regional Transportation District (RTD) launches the second phase of its $152 million downtown rail reconstruction project.
Starting Sunday, select light rail lines will shut down or reroute to Union Station for at least three months, with construction crews beginning work after Labor Day on Sept. 2. The project is expected to wrap up by late November, though officials caution that weather and supply chain issues could extend the timeline.
This marks déjà vu for commuters who endured similar closures last year, when RTD rebuilt intersections along the downtown loop. The agency says this year’s work is crucial to ensure the long-term reliability of the 30-year-old system.
RTD General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson visited the construction site Monday and explained the scale of the effort.
“You can tell just by the appearance we have to go underneath and pull everything out and basically reconstruct it,” Johnson told The Denver Gazette.
The work will include rebuilding sections of track, railroad ties, concrete and ballast along Colfax Avenue and Kalamath Street. The ultimate goal, Johnson emphasized, is long-term durability.
“The goal in 2025 is the same thing that we have before: to ensure that everything is in a state of good repair, meaning that our railroad ties, concrete, the ballasts, that they are positioned in such a way to maintain the integrity of the network.”
More than 300 light rail trains move through downtown daily, making the project one of the most disruptive transit efforts in years.
Free bus routes will continue connecting riders to stations outside the detour zones.
These closures will affect access to major downtown destinations, including the Colorado Convention Center, which is set to host the Great American Beer Festival in October. In previous years, attendees relied on the direct light rail stop at the convention center for convenience.
The current phase will focus on Colfax Avenue alignment reconstruction, midblock repairs along the downtown loop, and upgrades along Welton Street. These improvements follow last year’s first-phase work at five intersections, which created significant traffic backups.
Johnson noted that RTD is also grappling with external pressures that could influence the pace of construction.
“As we look at supply chain materials for the contractor, just by virtue of where we are, speaking as a country, there’s a lot of things that we can’t account for,” Johnson said.
She added that tariffs on construction materials and unpredictable weather could still cause setbacks, despite federal commitments to support the project.
For Johnson, the disruptions are necessary investments to ensure reliability for decades to come.
“All these projects are going to lead us to that point where we don’t have slowdowns within the network,” she said.
“The focus is getting our assets in a state of good repair so we can continue providing service to those that have come to depend on us, to showcase that we’re good fiduciaries as it relates to spending taxpayer dollars and basically to enhance the customer experience.”
Denver residents, workers and visitors should brace for delays — but RTD promises a stronger, more resilient system once construction is complete.
Originally reported by Noah Festenstein in The Denver Gazette.
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