CDOT, rail commission looking into passenger rail system along Front Range
People aren’t going to stop moving to Colorado anytime soon, and the state Department of Transportation is looking into another option to alleviate congestion along Interstate 25: passenger rail.
A section of I-25 is being expanded with a toll lane between Colorado Springs and the Denver metroplex, but there could be more options on the way.
According to a release issued Tuesday, CDOT and the Southwest Chief & Front Range Passenger Rail Commission are requesting proposals to “study the feasibility of a passenger rail system and other multimodal options linking Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins to Denver.”
The study will consider a range of transportation alternatives that will be sustainable, as well as modernizing I-25.
About 85% of Colorado’s population live in the 173-mile corridor along the Front Range, and the population is expected to grow by 35% in the next 25 years. Some of the biggest booms will be in El Paso County and counties east and north of Denver.
This is another step in the process, but there’s no guarantee that a rail system along the Front Range will ever be built.
Shoshana Lew, executive director with CDOT, says the state is reviewing options through a streamlined process, but there’s no estimated timeframe for when the results of the study will be released.
According to CDOT, $2.5 million was made available by the Colorado General Assembly in 2018 to fund the Passenger Rail Commission.
In 2017, Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace made a presentation to the Transportation Legislation Review Committee about a possible passenger rail system. At that time, it was estimated that a rail project from Trinidad to Fort Collins would cost at least $1 billion.
