Denver — Return of the Streetcars

Rail Transit Online, November 2003

A group of business owners along the East Colfax Avenue corridor wants to restore streetcar service to the neighborhood, and they have succeeded in obtaining a promise of $50,000 from the city for a feasibility study.  The line would run along Colfax from the state Capitol to Yosemite Street, at Denver's border with Aurora.  The next step is acquiring $150,000 in federal funds from the Denver Regional Council of Governments to fully finance the analysis.  The study would determine whether bus rapid transit should be incorporated into the plan, with streetcars making local stops and BRT aimed at longer distance express passengers.  Capital funding sources being discussed include federal grants, bonds, private sector investment and tax-increment financing.  The RTD, which currently operates the busy Route 15 bus line on Colfax, will not contribute to the study but will be monitoring its progress.  Supporters see the streetcar, which could be modeled on the successful operation in Portland, as a redevelopment tool that will spur hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity along the corridor.  “I think it could enliven Colfax Avenue and turn it into a real destination for retail, restaurants and residential mixed-used development,” Tom Knorr, executive director of Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Inc., told the Denver Post.