City Growth: Case Study of Denver, Colorado
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City Growth: Case Study of Denver, Colorado
- 1. By: Fatemeh Baratian Ghorghi CIVL 6560 February 2014 City Growth: Case Study of Denver, Colorado
- 2. Before 20th century 1858: a mining town during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory. 1859: grew by connecting to major railroad s and evolving into a regional service center for agriculture and mining. 1861: Denver City was incorporated. 1863: Western Union chose the city for its regional terminus. 1867: Denver became the Territorial Capital. 1870: the link to the transcontinental railroad was completed by Denver Pacific Roads were built in much of the Front
- 3. 1920s to 1970s 1920s: Denver Tramway began between city of Englewood and Fort Logan in Denver. 1950s: Expansive streetcar system in metro Denver was replaced by buses. 1960s: Regional Transportation District (RTD) was created. 1971: Denver Tramway Company transferred to Denver Metro Transit. 1974: Denver Metro Transit became part of RTD, ridership began to increase. Denver battled air pollution. Denver has rehabilitated the urban South Platte River and its tributaries for recreational use by hikers and cyclists. Population 1974 Street carsBuses
- 4. 1990s 1992: Metro Vision Guiding Vision adopted by the DRCOG Board. 150,000 new jobs projected over next 20 years. Widening the freeway by several lanes, incorporating mass transit into any future improvements. 1994: Metro Area Connection (MAC) was opened (experienced higher than predicted ridership)
- 5. 1990s 1995: T-REX (CDOT and RTD), Major Investment Study (DRCOG, CDOT and RTD) I-25/I-225 congestion problem The initial MIS: light rail, highway improvements, pedestrian/bicycle facility improvements, TDM, ITS, safety improvements. The second MIS: expanding highway lanes, adding light rail support throughout the corridor. 1995: Denver International Airport (DIA) opened 1997 : proposed “FasTracks” plan, made a strong linkage between transit and regional land use. Expansion and construction of transit service existing and new corridors
- 6. 1990s 1998, 1999: DRCOG adopted: Metro Vision: T-REX was a top priority Flexibility Provisions Regional Open Space Plan 2000: Southwest Corridor extension (later renamed the Central/CPV Corridor) offers access to several outlying park- and-ride lots Building of a massive new airport, outer beltway highway, large planned communities. Increased traffic congestion and air pollution: In 1990: Residents in the Denver
- 7. 2000s 2001: 62% of the trips in Denver either started or ended outside the city limits. 158 miles of roadway in the City and County of Denver operating at or near capacity. (45% are Denver’s). 10 % public transit. T-REX's light rail service construction along the Southeast Corridor began. 2002: “Blueprint Denver” changed the zoning in transit station areas to allow higher-density and mixed use development . 2004: FasTracks approved by voters serve neighboring suburbs and communities. 2010: Denver adopted a
- 8. Today Existing zoning capacity accommodates 69,800 households. Relative scarcity of housing have negative consequence on housing affordability. Straightforward street grid oriented to the four cardinal directions : benefit for snow removal. The rapid transit system light rail transit, HOV lanes, BRT, park-n-ride facilities.
- 9. Today 2009: car sharing came on the line introduced by eGo. Many Denver streets have bicycle lanes, Bicycle friendly city. 2010: B-Cycle 2011: Denver ranks 6th among US cities whose workers commute by bicycle 2011: Walk Score ranked Denver sixteenth most walkable of fifty largest U.S. cities. Denver International Airport is the tenth busiest airport in the world, fourth in the United States.
- 10. Tomorrow In the next 20 years: Public transit use in work-related trips will increase by 1% Congestion and growth in travel time and distance will continue to increase Daily vehicle miles of travel in the region will increase, 162 miles of roads will be congested Light-rail construction and highway improvements for I- 25 and I-225 But increases in the transit and traffic handling capacity are limited due to lack of regional
Editor's Notes
- In 1858: Denver City was a mining town during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory. In 1859: the new city grew by connecting to major railroad s and evolving into a regional service center for agriculture and mining. Express rail transit decreased westward travel time from twelve days to six. In 1861: Denver City was incorporated In 1863, Western Union chose the city for its regional terminus In 1867: Denver became the Territorial Capital. Afterward, Denver City shortened its name to Denver. In 1870: the link to the transcontinental railroad was completed by Denver Pacific, made city grew during these years. Concurrently , roads were built in much of the Front Range .
- 1971: with aging equipment, low revenues, and lackluster ridership the Denver Tramway Company transferred all of its assets to city-owned Denver Metro Transit. Within three years (1974) Denver Metro Transit became part of RTD and under the new banner ridership began to increase. During this decade, Denver was one of the cities most dependent on motor vehicles and because of its higher altitude battled air pollution. Since 1974, Denver has rehabilitated the urban South Platte River and its tributaries for recreational use by hikers and cyclists. 1977, Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) was designated as the MPO for the Denver region. On map? This area included portions of Adams and Arapahoe counties, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties. DRCOG also serves as the Transportation Planning Region in developing plans for Clear Creek and Gilpin counties. The changing footprint of Denver metropolitan region
- In 1992, Metro Vision Guiding Vision was adopted by the DRCOG Board to guide the development of the first Metro Vision Plan On 1992: traffic congestion study commissioned by DRCOG. The study found that traffic volume along the corridor had exceeded its maximum capacity and, within a few years, the freeway would be near gridlock most of the day. Furthurmore, planners projected that 150,000 new jobs would be added in the downtown area over the next 20 years. The study not only recommended widening the freeway by several lanes, but it also suggested incorporating some type of mass transit into any future improvements. After several idealistic attempts to restart regional rapid transit systems in the 1970s and 1980s, a 5.3-mile light rail line, called the Metro Area Connection (MAC) was opened in 1994, and rail transit returned to the region. But the MAC line experienced higher than predicted ridership.
- In 1995: The CDOT and Reginal Transportation District (RTD) took the first step toward developing the partnership that ultimately became T-REX (TRansportation_EXpansion). The two agencies and DRCOG commissioned the Southeast Corridor Major Investment Study (MIS), which sought the best solutions to the I-25/I-225 congestion problem. Denver is primarily served by the interstate freeways I-25 and I-70 The initial MIS (transit-oriented in scope):light rail, highway improvements, pedestrian/bicycle facility improvements, TDM, ITS, safety improvements such as acceleration and deceleration lanes, wider shoulders. The initial MIS did not call for additional highway lanes but placed too much emphasis on transit. A second, more comprehensive MIS was completed two years later. Unlike the initial study, the scope included highway improvements as well as Transit solutions. It recommended expanding highway lanes up to 7 wide in each direction as well as added light rail support throughout the corridor . DRCOG adopted the track running next to or in the median of I-25 and I-225. The Denver International Airport (DIA) opened on1995 after two years delay, due to difficulties with its automated baggage system. In 1997 “FasTracks” plan was proposed which made a strong linkage between transit and regional land use. The plan proposed the expansion and construction of transit service existing and new corridors, and the development of the Denver Union Station into a multimodal transit hub Regional Transportation District.
- In November 1998, DRCOG adopted a 20-year regional transportation plan called Metro Vision 2020. T-REX was a top priority in the plan. In the mid-1990s, Denver again began to undertake long-range planning for a regional rail transit system. . Following this, "Flexibility Provisions" 1998 (sets the standards for administering the urban growth boundary/are) and Regional Open Space Plan (provides policy direction for open space preservation) in 1999 were adopted. So, Southwest Corridor extension was built to the MAC line and opened in 2000, later renamed the Central/CPV Corridor (seeFig. 2) Which offers access to several outlying park-and-ride lots. Ridership was used more than it was projected and additional parking was added at several of the park-and-ride lots. The building of a massive new airport, a 48-mile "outer" beltway highway, and large planned communities. Increased traffic congestion and air pollution. In 1990: Residents in the Denver region drove an average of 18 miles a day In 1999: Residents drove 22 miles a day. (+20%) Increase in delayed hours In 1990: 22% of daily travel time is spent in congestion In 1999: 37% of daily travel time is spent in congestion
- In 2000, Denver metro area cities and counties agreed to manage growth throughout the region by adhering to the principles outlined in Metro Vision. Transportation use is largely a result of regional growth and driving habits. Much of Denver’s congestion results from auto trips that originate or terminate outside city limits. In 2001, it is estimated that 62 percent of the trips in Denver either started or ended outside the city limits In 2001, there were 158 miles of roadway in the City and County of Denver operating at or near capacity. Denver’s congested roads equal about 45 percent of the region’s 354 miles of congested roads in 2001. Regional Transportation District (RTD) operates six light rail lines, the C, D, E, F, W, and H with a total of 34.9 miles (56 km) of track, serving 36 stations. FasTracks is a light rail/bus/rail expansion project approved by voters in 2004 which will serve neighboring suburbs and communities. Despite Denver’s new light-rail line, and other improvements to the transit network, only 10 percent of the daily trips use public transit in 2001. The City and County of Denver is very involved with TOD planning. They completed a new land use and transportation plan called “Blueprint Denver” in 2002 that changed the zoning in transit station areas to allow higher-density and mixed use development (City, 2002). In 2006, they completed an overall TOD Strategic Plan, and they are in the process of developing station-area plans for most of the stations within the city limits. Colorado T-REX's (TRansportation EXpansion) five-year design-build project is the result of a unique collaboration between the CDOT, RTD, which is responsible for transit service in the metro Denver area, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. Construction began in Fall 2001 and construction ended in December 2006, and light rail service along the Southeast Corridor began in late 2006. In 2010, Denver adopted a comprehensive update of its zoning code. The new zoning was developed to guide development as envisioned in adopted plans such as Blueprint Denver, Transit Oriented Development Strategic Plan, Greenprint Denver, and the Strategic Transportation Plan
- Existing zoning capacity can accommodate about 69,800 households. , slightly more than the population increase of 60,700 households forecast by DRCOG, although there are individual neighborhoods where capacity is not sufficient to meet demand. Existing zoning capacity is far less restricted for commercial development than for residential development, providing limited opportunities for developers to change the balance between jobs and housing. As a result, there is a relative scarcity of housing, which may have an unintended negative consequence on housing affordability. Consumers and developers, simply through the laws of supply and demand, may raise the value of existing housing and subsequently the price of land available for future housing Denver is primarily served by the interstate freeways I-25 and I-70 Most of Denver has a straightforward street grid oriented to the four cardinal directions Most of the streets downtown and in LoDo run northeast–southwest and northwest–southeast. This system has an unplanned benefit for snow removal; With the grid oriented to the diagonal directions, the NW–SE streets receive sunlight to melt snow in the morning and the NE–SW streets receive it in the afternoon. The rapid transit system is the first component of the transportation building blocks in Denver. The elements of the rapid transit system include rail (both light rail and commuter rail), High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and the stations and park-n-ride facilities that serve both the rail and bus network. Colorado is rated as the second most bicycle-friendly state in the nation. This is due in large part to Denver placing an emphasis on legislation, programs and infrastructure developments that promote cycling as a mode of transportation. Many Denver streets have bicycle lanes, and there are over 850 miles of paved, off-road, bike paths in Denver parks and along bodies of water, like Cherry Creek and the South Platte. This allows for a significant portion of Denver's population to be bicycle commuters and has led to Denver being known as a bicycle friendly city. In addition to the many bike paths, Denver launched B-Cycle – a city-wide bicycle sharing program – in late April 2010. The B-Cycle network was the largest in the United States at the time of its launch, boasting 400 bicycles. Denver ranks 6th among US cities with populations over 400,000 in terms of the percentage of workers who commute by bicycle in 2011. Denver B-cycle members will be able to pick up one of the red bikes at any B-station and drop it off at any B-station.
- In the next 20 years: Employment will increase by 109,200 jobs by 2020 Work-related trips, public transit use will increase by 1% Congestion and growth in travel time and distance will continue to increase Daily vehicle miles of travel in the region will increase by nearly 5 million in the City and County of Denver. As a result, more than 450 miles of roads in the region will be congested of which 162 miles (36%) will be in Denver. Light-rail construction and highway improvements for I-25 and I-225 will be required during the next five years. But increases in the transit and traffic handling capacity for Denver are limited due to lack of regional transportation funds. Metro Vision Goals (2005-2035) Increase urban density by 10% Locate 50% of new housing and 75% of new employment in urban centers Protect a total of 880 sq. mi. of state and local parks and open space Cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60% Lower single-occupant vehicle (SOV) trips to work from 74% to 65% Reduce daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per capita by 10%