The I-25 corridor of the Denver Metropolitan area has long been noted for its congested rush hour traffic.  Soon that will all be changing.

Coming in December 2006, the Regional Transit District (RTD) is planning to open its light rail extension through to Lincoln Avenue.  Located on the west side of I-25 and just to the north of Lincoln Avenue, is the Lincoln light rail station.  Currently, this will be the last stop for the light rail and will feature a 1,734 space parking garage. 

The Southeast Corridor project extends the light rail 19.1 miles from the existing line at I-25 and Broadway. From there it will run along I-25 and I-225 with an additional connection from I-25 to Parker Road along I-225.  This work is being done as part of the T-REX highway construction project.

Eventually, the light rail will extend into the RidgeGate development currently being built within the City of Lone Tree. The plans call for three additional stops east of I-25 and will include a 2,000 space parking facility.  The extension into RidgeGate will be part of the FasTracks project that voters approved in 2004.   Right now, the RidgeGate extension is not expected to be built until 2016.  There is a push, however, from the City of Lone Tree to accelerate the timeline of these three stops. 

What transit options exists in Douglas County?

The RTD district’s boundaries end with the City of Lone Tree.  The Town of Castle Rock opted out of the RTD district in November’s election. 

Douglas County is serviced by Front Range Express (FREX).  FREX is a commuter service which currently has stops in Fountain, Colorado Springs, Monument, Castle Rock and Denver.

FREX and Douglas County were looking into the feasibility of adding a FREX stop at the car pool lot located to the east of Castle Pines North, in the northeast corner of the I-25 interchange.  After discussions between the two entities, it was determined that the required annual contribution from Douglas County to add the stop would be between $150 and $200 thousand.

According to Alex Larsen, Principal Traffic Engineer with Douglas County Public Works, “there are no such funds in the County’s current budget or next year’s proposed budget.”

Right now the lot is used by commuters who meet and car pool to another destination.  Ride Arrangers, a program that provides a free ride-matching service to help commuters find carpool partners is available.  Interested participants can reach Ride Arrangers by visting www.DRCOG.org or calling 303-458- POOL (7665).